The Historic Mistake of 2015 That Cost Lives: The Bitter Truth About Europe's Collapse | David Ben Basat
David Ben Basat argues that Merkel's 2015 decision to open Germany's doors to refugees led to a wave of Islamist terror in Europe, criticizing European leaders who avoided confronting extremism for fear of accusations of racism.
In his article, David Ben Basat claims that the turning point was in 2015, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the country's gates to hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants. According to him, alongside law-abiding families, the open policy was also exploited by elements spreading radical Islamist ideology. He cites a series of attacks across Europe – in Paris, Nice, Brussels, Manchester, Berlin, Vienna, Barcelona, and others – as proof of the heavy price the continent paid. Ben Basat criticizes European leaders, who he claims avoided a frontal confrontation with extremism for fear of accusations of racism or Islamophobia, and sometimes due to political considerations. He notes that security services warned of extremist hotspots, but the political response was slow and hesitant. The article uses charged and ideologically loaded language, presenting a direct link between immigration policy and the wave of terror, without mentioning other factors or contradictory data.