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Last week, during a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were violently removed from the parliamentary assembly, revealing the fragile condition of what's often described as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while refusing to recognize a people deprived of basic freedoms and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation sound remote and weak, while the terrifying sounds of settler violence and intimidation persist strongly. Over 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, including physical assaults, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of vehicles and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period marks the beginning of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic event, it constitutes an important communal and cultural moment that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Precisely for these causes, annually settlers target Palestinian farmers during this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations documented 113 separate incidents of violence, harassment, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive trees and crops by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, municipalities, and areas.

Israeli security forces seemed to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli military seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border police officers, and settler security officials were actually present. They either directly prevented Palestinians from reaching and gathering their own lands, or failed to prevent settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Support for Colonization

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for instance, a special military coordination team uprooted private olive trees of local residents, citing missing documentation, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the local court decided to halt all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on lands taken by Israel and illegally transferred to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the government to achieve practical incorporation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of many of colonists in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the territory with numerous pioneers, many heroes, and countless of colonists who reside in this area of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations refrain from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to travel to the United Kingdom and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of sanctions, the UK emphasized they take place "in his personal capacity" only.

International Recognition and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit settlement produce to be sold in markets and shops in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how can he permit the Israeli administration to breach 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 implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Resolution

A fair peace must honor the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when each person's dignity across the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely declare peace has been attained.

True resolution demands an independent Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that enjoises agreement among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations throughout the globe for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the persistent anti-government protests within the country, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is due to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives released, and the residents of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to keep applying this influence. The world has ignored to the violence in the strip for many years; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.