Summary: Reading Time: 10 minutesThe 1990s were a time of great transition within the Israeli Palestinian Conflict. Forces both within and without Israel and Palestine would come to play a mighty role in steering the conflict back toward violence and war. As the decade ended the start of a new second intifada, the al Aqsa intifada was about to begin. This time would be different. The al Aqsa intifada was saturated with violence on both sides as Hamas and religious extremists within Palestine rose to greater prominence.<br> <br> Global Events That Unintentionally Brought About the al Aqsa Intifada<br> <br> In the story of international relations, no matter how well conceived or well intentioned the plans of statecraft and statesmen might be, one of the forces that often have the most devastating effects upon a situation is the law of unintended consequences.<br> <br> This law means that while we think we are going one way and have it all planned out, the unintended consequences of our actions or the actions of someone else come out of nowhere and wreck the whole plan. The story of the Israeli Palestinian conflict or at least its constant escalation since 1948 falls into this category. The law of unintended consequences has played a huge role in helping the conflict escalate in severity one decade at a time. This would prove true as events led to the al Aqsa intifada.<br> <br> At the beginning of the 1990s big things were happening in other places around the world that seemed unrelated to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The cold war was ending. The Iron Curtain was falling and the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were opening up to the rest of the world.<br> But with this glorious liberation and new day that was dawning, hundreds of thousands, of European Jews were finding they could leave these lands where no economic opportunity was available to them. They could leave and go to Israel, the Jewish homeland. The problem was where would Israel put this new and massive surge of Jewish immigrants as they arrived at the borders of Israel.<br> <br> It was here that many of the hawks of the Israeli government found their greatest opportunity to subvert the<a href="http://www.theendofhistory.net/most_recent/complete-balanced-guide-israeli-palestinian-conflict-chapter-18-peace-process-two-state-solution/"> peace process that had been launched in the early 90s</a>. The peace process and its terms were to be implemented incrementally, one year at a time.<br> <br> Remember from my last post on this topic, one of the big pieces of the peace process was the incremental withdrawal of Israeli defense forces from the occupied territories which would then become ruled by a Palestinian National Authority.<br> <br> But what if the withdrawal of Israeli defense forces meant abandoning Israeli citizens to be surrounded by Palestinians and terrorists? How would this change the unfolding intentions and plans of the peace process?<br> <br> To answer that question, hardliners within the Israeli government initiated a special and deliberate effort to build new settlements. These settlements were not within the Israeli territories but within the occupied territories that Israel was supposed to withdraw from in the coming years. The death of the two state solution and the peace process was already in place.<br> <br> Israeli Settlements <br> <br> It is important to understand what is included when we hear about Israeli settlements in the news. These Israeli settlements did not start in the 1990s but they were drastically increased during that time period. They were part of a deliberate effort of some Israeli hawks to sabotage the peace process.<br> <br> T<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-stakeout-reveals-new-generation-of-radical-jewish-settlers-1.5445973">he settlers who were chosen for these locations were often among the most radical of new...</a>
