[[link removed]]

WHILE THE WORLD EYES GAZA, WEST BANK SETTLERS ACT WITH IMPUNITY  
[[link removed]]


 

Ofer Cassif
October 16, 2025
The Guardian
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ As the harvest season begins, attacks on Palestinian farmers and
their land are spiralling. The words of peace following the Gaza
ceasefire ring hollow. _

An Israel settler patrols near the West Bank city of Ramallah,
source: screen grab

 

ast Monday, when the US president, Donald Trump, addressed the Knesset
alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, my
compatriot lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling them to
“Recognise Palestine”. We were brutally expelled by force
[[link removed]] from
the parliament’s plenum, revealing the fragile state of the supposed
“only democracy in the Middle East”. How can Trump and Netanyahu
speak of peace in the Middle East without recognition of the people
deprived for decades of their basic liberties and rights under vicious
occupation?

Nowhere is the deceit more clear than in the occupied West Bank.
There, the words of peace are but a weak and distant voice, but the
horrifying sounds of settler violence
[[link removed]] and
terror still echo loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler violence
against Palestinians have been documented
[[link removed]] since the announcement of Trump’s
20-point plan at the end of September, including physical assaults,
theft of agricultural produce and torching of vehicles and property.

The rise of settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period marks
the start of the harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it
is an important social and national moment that exhibits endurance
under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, year after year
settlers target Palestinians during this precious time
[[link removed]].
During the 2024 harvest period, Yesh Din (an Israeli human rights
group that collects and disseminates information regarding violations
of Palestinians’ human rights in the West Bank) documented 113
separate incidents
[[link removed]] of
violence, harassment, harvest-thwarting or damage to olive trees and
crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on
lands belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, towns and communities.

Yesh Din also found that “Israeli security forces appeared to have
played a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest”. In about
70% of forceful prevention of access to lands, soldiers, border police
officers and settlement civilian security coordinators (CSCs) were
actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from
accessing and harvesting in their own lands, or failed to stop
settlers who harassed or assaulted them.

This comes as no surprise, as the leader of the settlers’ political
party, Bezalel Smotrich
[[link removed]],
was appointed as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defence in
charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
(COGAT). In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit uprooted
private olive trees
[[link removed]] of
Palestinians, citing lack of permits, but ignored violations of an
illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district
court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built
on lands seized by Israel and unlawfully transferred to settlers.

Sign up for the Guardian's free weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion
[[link removed]] 

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool by
the government to pursue de-facto annexation. Earlier this month,
Smotrich led a march
[[link removed]] of
thousands of settlers in support of annexation of the West Bank. He
was quoted as saying, “We are continuing to take hold with our feet
of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, 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 settlers and their supporters in the Knesset are clear on their
motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west
refrain from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich
was sanctioned by the UK
[[link removed]] in
June, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be
able to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys
the ministerial power to grab lands in the West Bank. Even in the
announcement of sanctions, the UK highlighted they take place “in
his personal capacity” solely.

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of settler violence and
its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow
settlement produce
[[link removed]] to
be sold in markets and shops in Britain? If Starmer is serious
about recognition of Palestine
[[link removed]] as
a state, how come it allows the Israeli government to violate its
sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the recognition an empty
ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the UK, a hollow act only to be
realised in the rebranding of some maps?

A just peace must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian
people for self-recognition, sovereignty and liberty from military
occupation and siege. Only when every human being’s dignity between
the river and sea is respected can we truly say peace has been
achieved.

True peace requires an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel:
this is the sole formula that enjoys consensus among the international
community, the Palestinian national movement and the Israeli peace
camp.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide,
but he probably only did so because the burden of his relationship
with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass
protests across the globe for the liberation of Palestine
[[link removed]], and the
unwavering anti-government demonstrations inside Israel, are the real
forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a ceasefire has been
signed, the hostages released and the people of Gaza can enjoy
safeguard from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been
signed, it is vital to keep applying this pressure. The world has
turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not
repeat the same mistake in the West Bank
[[link removed]].

_Dr Ofer Cassif is a member of the Knesset, representing the
Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) since 2019_

_The Guardian [[link removed]] is globally renowned
for its coverage of politics, the environment, science, social
justice, sport and culture. Scroll less and understand more about the
subjects you care about with the Guardian's brilliant email
newsletters
[[link removed]],
free to your inbox._

* West Bank
[[link removed]]
* Israeli settlers
[[link removed]]
* Gaza
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]