🔗 Share this article

Last week, amid a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were forcibly removed from the legislative session, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently described as the "only democratic state in the Middle East". How can officials speak about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a population denied of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under decades-long occupation?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of peace sound distant and faint, while the frightening echoes of settler violence and intimidation continue loudly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, theft of crops, and burning of vehicles and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period signals the beginning of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it represents an important social and cultural occasion that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, year after year colonists target Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive trees and produce by Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on lands owned by 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and communities.

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

The human rights group also found that "Israeli security forces seemed to have played a greater part in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of instances where entry to lands was violently blocked, troops, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically on site. They either personally stopped Palestinians from reaching and harvesting their property, or failed to prevent settlers who threatened or attacked them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This is no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a particular COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive trees of local residents, citing lack of permits, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the local court decided to stop all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on lands seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Response

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a tool used by the government to achieve de-facto annexation. Recently, Smotrich headed a march of many of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with many settlers, numerous champions, and countless of settlers who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their backers in the Knesset are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations refrain from meaningful sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in the summer, but the effect of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of sanctions, the UK highlighted they apply "personally" solely.

Global Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce 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 come he permit the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an empty ploy to shut down opposition in the United Kingdom, a meaningless gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to Genuine Resolution

A fair resolution must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and liberty from occupation and siege. Only when every human being's dignity between the river and sea is honored can we truly say reconciliation has been attained.

Genuine resolution requires an sovereign Palestinian state next to the Israeli state: this is the only formula that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have applied pressure on the Israeli leader to halt the genocide, but he likely only did so because the strain of his connection with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become too great. The large demonstrations throughout the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations within Israel, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can experience protection from destruction. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to continue maintaining this influence. The world has turned a blind eye to the violence in the strip for many years; it must not make the same error in the occupied territories.