Five reflections on Holocaust denial, old and new forms of hatred of Jews and the delegitimation of Israel

Some five years have passed between the Dublin conference on antisemitism and Holocaust Denial and the final writing of this chapter. Many things have happened during that period in the Middle East, in Europe and in the USA: there have been fresh rounds of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, at least one of them particularly violent; the collapse of a few Arab states under the attacks of different Islamist, Jihadists and other forces; daily atrocities committed by ISIS or others and more. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process finds itself in a cul-de-sac, and each side blames the other for the stalemate. The last elections in Israel brought a right-wing government to power. The future is uncertain, and there are not too many reasons for optimism. The ambiguity and complexity of the situation is probably one of the reasons why the BDS movement has gained a lot of ground on American and European campuses. In fact, many artists, scientists and others refuse to come to Israel, and in many places Israeli products are taken off supermarkets' shelves; meanwhile, Israel is frequently vehemently denounced in the public sphere, and this is only a partial list. In Israel itself the seriousness of the boycotting campaigns has been only lately fully understood. Although the actual damage to the country, to its academic institutions or to its economy seems to be, for the moment at least, rather limited, concern is growing.