I mer enn hundre år har konflikten mellom jøder og arabere pågått med nestenuforminsket styrke. Krig og terrorisme har preget denne regionen mer enn noe annetog dette har ført til enorme lidelser på begge sider av konflikten. Til tross for dette bledet satt i gang hemmelige fredsforhandlinger mellom PLO og Israel høsten 1992.Forhandlingene førte frem til en fredsavtale og til etableringen av en palestinskselvstyremyndighet på Vestbredden. I 1994 kunne Yasser Arafat, formann i PLO, etter46 år i landflyktighet igjen sette fot på palestinsk jord. Til tross for en tilsynelatendegod vilje fra begge partene sin side, har 8 år med selvstyre for palestinerne ikke førtdem nærmere en løsning på konflikten med Israel. Denne studien vil belyse årsakenetil at det fortsatt hersker tilnærmet krigstilstand mellom partene og at veien til fredsynes lenger enn på mange år. / For more than a century the conflict between Arabs and Jews over the samepiece of land has been an ongoing issue in International Relations. Severalwars have been fought in the region since 1947 between the Israelis on one sideand several different Arab countries on the other. This paper, however, focuseson the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians living in the occupied areasof the West Bank and Gaza Strip.In 1993, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to mutual recognition and limitedself-rule for the Palestinians in Jericho and Gaza. They also agreed to concludea permanent treaty that would resolve the status of the West Bank and Gazawithin 5 years after the implementation of the Oslo-accord. Today, almost 9years after the signing of ”The Declaration of Principles” in Washington DC,there are more violence in the region than in decades and peace seems furtheraway than it did in September of 1993. Why is that?This article sets out to try to explain the security dilemma that exists betweenthe two identities using an analytical framework that allows us to determinewhether or not a certain matter is one of security, simply by the fact that it ismade so by one of the actors. Barry Buzans theory that security can refer to anumber of different referent objects such as individuals, groups and states,makes it possible to broaden the traditionalist wiew of just looking at thestate’s security as the only means of analysis.The analytical framework also makes it possible to identify existential threatsin other sectors than the political/military. The article attemts to point out thedifferent issues that requires securitizing actions by the actors within 5different sectors. / Avdelning: ALB - Slutet Mag 3 C-upps.Hylla: Upps. ChP 00-02