Zionism in Arab discourses presents a ground-breaking study of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Through analyses of hundreds of texts written by Arab Islamists and liberals from the late-nineteenth century to the 'Arab Spring', the book demonstrates that the Zionist enterprise has played a dual function of an enemy and a mentor. Islamists and liberals alike discovered, respectively, in Zionism and in Israeli society qualities they sought to implement in their sown homelands.

Focusing on Palestinian, Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian political discourses, this study uncovers fascinating and unexpected Arab points of views on different aspects of Zionism; from the first Zionist Congress to the First Lebanon War; from gardening in the early years of Tel Aviv to women's service in the Israeli Defence Forces; from the role of religion in the creation of the state to the role of democracy in its preservation.

Introduction: Islamism and liberalism in the Arab World: Some theoretical remarks
1. Islamism, Zionism and Israel: a war of no-compromises and compromises during war
2. At Basel I founded an ideal for the Muslims: Zionism and Israel as role models in Islamist writing
3. Arab liberals between the struggle against despotism and the war against Zionism
4. The West within the East: Israel as a role model in liberal thought
Conclusion
Index

Authors

Uriya Shavit is an Associate Professor at the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Program for Religious Studies, Tel Aviv University

Ofir Winter is a Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Tel Aviv