it cannot activate with anything lower like 1%-2% of the hashrate/blocks signalling
This is what people normally do. But Knots decided to create a "mandatory activation", which means, that their client will start rejecting non-signalling blocks, even if the signalling side will have 0% hashrate. After block 961,632, all BIP-110 clients will simply split, if they will be in a minority.
At height 965664 part of their news consensus rules become active
They will start enforcing mandatory signalling since block 961,632. To reach block 965,664, they will need 4,032 more blocks. Which would normally take a month, but with 1% hashrate, it would take years instead, if you assume that miners won't give up earlier.
Each peer decides which software to run.
Exactly. Anyone can fork today, just because that user "feels like it". But then, that user would need to mine that chain by himself.
Miners merely produce the money
Exactly. If miners are not on your side, then your chain will halt, and you will need to find a different miners, or mine it by yourself.
If only a few tribal chiefs are able to make decisions and verify transactions, then we are simply returning to central banking.
Anyone can be a miner, it is not signet, where you need someone's approval.
and another chain that resembles Ethereum a storage layer for junk that increasingly moves toward centralization
If you are so sure, that BIP-110 will succeed, then why don't you sell your non-BIP-110 coins for BIP-110 ones? So far, no BIP-110 proponent put any coins on the table, so they probably don't have any, or don't really believe in BIP-110 being successful.