🔗 Share this article

Last Monday, amid a joint address by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner urging the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly removed from the legislative assembly, exposing the weak state of what's frequently portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can officials speak about regional peace while declining to acknowledge a people deprived of fundamental liberties and rights under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem remote and weak, while the frightening echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation continue loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the announcement of the US 20-point plan in late September, featuring attacks, theft of crops, and burning of cars and property.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in violence by colonists is deliberate. This period signals the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic event, it represents an important communal and national occasion that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these causes, year after year settlers target Palestinian farmers throughout this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups documented 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and produce involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and areas.

Israeli security forces seemed to have played a larger part in obstructing the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israel's security forces seemed to have played a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of instances where access to lands was forcibly blocked, troops, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their own lands, or failed to stop colonists who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This is no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional official in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for example, a special COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all building work in the encampment, which was built on property seized by Israel and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is simply a tool used by the government to pursue practical incorporation. Recently, Smotrich headed a procession of many of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the territory with numerous pioneers, numerous heroes, and countless of colonists who live in this area of the land ... we need to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from substantial penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to take territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the UK emphasized they take place "personally" only.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still permit settlement produce to be marketed in markets and shops in the UK? If the British leader is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how come he allow the Israeli government to breach its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an hollow tactic to silence opposition in the UK, a meaningless act only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward Genuine Peace

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

Genuine resolution requires an independent Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that has consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he likely only did so because the strain of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become too great. The mass protests throughout the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government protests inside the country, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is due to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been agreed, the hostages released, and the people of Gaza can enjoy protection from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to continue applying this influence. The international community has ignored to the violence in Gaza for many years; it must not repeat the same mistake in the West Bank.