Editing Antisemitism (section)

===Eternalism–contextualism debate===
The study of antisemitism has become politically controversial because of differing interpretations of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.{{sfnp|Judaken|2018|pp=1123–1124}} There are two competing views of antisemitism, eternalism, and contextualism.{{sfnp|Consonni|2022|p=25}} The eternalist view sees antisemitism as separate from other forms of racism and prejudice and an exceptionalist, transhistorical force [[teleological]]ly culminating in the Holocaust.{{sfnp|Consonni|2022|p=25}}{{sfnp|Judaken|2018|pp=1123, 1130}} Hannah Arendt criticized this approach, writing that it provoked "the uncomfortable question: 'Why the Jews of all people?' ... with the question begging reply: Eternal hostility."{{sfnp|Judaken|2018|p=1130}} Zionist thinkers and antisemites draw different conclusions from what they perceive as the eternal hatred of Jews; according to antisemites, it proves the inferiority of Jews, while for Zionists it means that Jews need their own state as a refuge.{{sfnp|Judaken|2018|p=1135}}{{sfnp|Ury|2018|p=1151}} Most Zionists do not believe that antisemitism can be combatted with education or other means.{{sfnp|Judaken|2018|p=1135}}

The contextual approach treats antisemitism as a type of racism and focuses on the historical context in which hatred of Jews emerges.{{sfnp|Consonni|2022|p=27}} Some contextualists restrict the use of "antisemitism" to refer exclusively to the era of modern racism, treating anti-Judaism as a separate phenomenon.{{sfnp|Judaken|2018|p=1132}} Historian [[David Engel (historian)|David Engel]] has challenged the project to define antisemitism, arguing that it essentializes Jewish history as one of persecution and discrimination.{{sfnp|Consonni|2022|p=26}} Engel argues that the term "antisemitism" is not useful in historical analysis because it implies that there are links between anti-Jewish prejudices expressed in different contexts, without evidence of such a connection.{{sfnp|Judaken|2018|p=1130}}