🔗 Share this article

Last Monday, during a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly removed from the parliamentary session, revealing the fragile condition of what's often portrayed as the "only democratic state in the Middle East". How can officials speak about regional peace while declining to recognize a population denied of basic liberties and rights under long-standing occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace sound remote and faint, while the frightening sounds of settler violence and intimidation persist strongly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the unveiling of the US peace proposal in September's end, including attacks, stealing of crops, and torching of cars and belongings.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it constitutes an important social and national occasion that demonstrates resilience under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year settlers attack Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest period, rights groups recorded 113 distinct cases of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or damage to olive trees and produce involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which occurred on lands owned by 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israeli military appeared to have had a larger part in obstructing the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli security forces seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where access to lands was violently prevented, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically on site. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from accessing and harvesting their property, or neglected to stop settlers who harassed or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special military coordination team uprooted private olive plants of Palestinians, citing lack of permits, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on lands taken by Israeli authorities and illegally given to colonists.

Takeover Goals and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to achieve de-facto annexation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of many of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to take hold with our presence of the Land of Israel with numerous settlers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are clear about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be able to travel to the United Kingdom and tour the West End, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the British government highlighted they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

International Recognition and Reality

If the British administration recognizes the reality of settler violence and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be marketed in stores and shops in the UK? If the British leader is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how can he allow the Israeli administration to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Peace

A just peace must honor the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from occupation and blockade. Only when every person's worth across the river and sea is honored can we genuinely say reconciliation has been attained.

Genuine peace demands an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the sole solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become too great. The mass protests throughout the globe for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the persistent opposition protests inside Israel, are the actual factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been agreed, the hostages released, and the residents of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is crucial to continue maintaining this influence. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.