Last Monday, amid a combined address by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were violently removed from the legislative assembly, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can officials talk about regional peace while declining to recognize a population deprived of fundamental liberties and rights under long-standing military control?
In no place is the hypocrisy more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace sound distant and weak, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and terror continue loudly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of the Trump administration's peace proposal in late September, featuring physical assaults, theft of crops, and torching of vehicles and property.
The increase in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period marks the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic event, it constitutes an significant social and national occasion that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers attack Palestinian farmers throughout this precious time. During the last year's agricultural season, rights groups recorded 113 distinct cases of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and crops by settlers and military personnel, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, towns, and areas.
Israeli security forces appeared to have had a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest
The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli security forces appeared to have played a greater part in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where access to farmland was violently prevented, troops, border guards, and settler security officials were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and gathering their property, or failed to stop settlers who harassed or attacked them.
This comes as no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for example, a special military coordination team uprooted private olive trees of Palestinians, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked infractions by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on lands seized by Israel and illegally transferred to colonists.
In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the government to achieve de-facto incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a procession of thousands of settlers in support of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We persist to take hold with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this part of the land ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."
The colonists and their backers in the Knesset are clear about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west refrain from substantial penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in the summer, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the UK and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the UK highlighted they take place "personally" only.
If the UK government recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and shops in Britain? If the British leader is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he permit the Israeli government to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an empty ploy to silence opposition in the United Kingdom, a meaningless act only to be realised in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?
A just peace must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-recognition, independence, and liberty from occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's dignity across the river and sea is respected can we genuinely say reconciliation has been achieved.
Genuine resolution demands an independent Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the sole formula that has consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.
Trump may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his connection with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become excessive. The large demonstrations across the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering anti-government demonstrations inside the country, are the real factors behind this pressure.
It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives released, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to continue applying this influence. The world has ignored to the violence in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.
A seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that matter in the Czech Republic and beyond.
