🔗 Share this article

Last week, during a combined address by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner urging the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative session, exposing the fragile condition of what's frequently described as the "only democracy in the region". How can leaders speak about regional peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of basic liberties and rights under long-standing occupation?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace seem distant and weak, while the terrifying sounds of colonist attacks and intimidation continue strongly. More than 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of the US peace proposal in late September, featuring attacks, stealing of crops, and torching of cars and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an important social and cultural moment that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, annually colonists target Palestinian farmers during this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct incidents of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving settlers and military personnel, which took place on lands owned by 51 Palestinian villages, towns, and areas.

Israeli military seemed to have had a larger role in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military seemed to have played a greater part in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of instances where access to farmland was forcibly blocked, troops, border police officers, and settler security officials were physically on site. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who threatened or attacked them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This is no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to stop all building work in the encampment, which was built on lands seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a instrument used by the government to pursue practical annexation. Recently, Smotrich led a march of thousands of settlers in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this part of the territory ... we must to normalize it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their backers in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west refrain from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the effect of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and visit the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of sanctions, the British government emphasized they take place "in his personal capacity" only.

International Recognition and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still permit settlement produce to be sold in markets and outlets in Britain? If Starmer is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how come he permit the Israeli government to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some maps?

Pathway to True Resolution

A just peace must honor the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and blockade. Only when each human being's dignity across the river and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely say peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution demands an sovereign Palestinian state next to Israel: this is the sole solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests across the world for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government protests within the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this massive public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives released, and the residents of the territory can enjoy safeguard from destruction. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to continue applying this influence. The international community has turned a blind eye to the violence in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.