One of the most thought-provoking articles I have read recently comes from the Gatestone Institute's "Is Saving Europe Still Possible?" by Guy Millière. Whether you agree with every conclusion or not, it raises a question that European leaders seem increasingly reluctant to confront.
The article focuses heavily on the dramatic rise in antisemitic attacks across Europe, particularly in Britain, where Jewish communities increasingly report feeling unsafe. It details attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools, businesses and individuals, arguing that these incidents are no longer isolated events but part of a broader social transformation. (Gatestone Institute)
Many commentators treat this explosion of antisemitism as the problem itself.
I think it is better understood as a symptom.
The deeper issue is that Europe has experienced decades of large-scale migration from parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia without requiring successful cultural integration into the values that made Western civilisation successful in the first place.
Western civilisation did not emerge by accident.
It was built over centuries upon Judeo-Christian ethics, the rule of law, equality before the law, freedom of conscience, individual liberty, private property, democratic government, respect for women, and the belief that rights belong to individuals rather than tribes or religious groups.
Those values created the freest, most prosperous and most tolerant societies in human history.
The concern raised by the Gatestone article is that Europe is steadily importing populations whose cultural traditions, in some cases, have developed very different views about religion, political authority, women's rights, free speech and the relationship between faith and the state. The author argues that political leaders have often been unwilling to acknowledge these differences openly or discuss the consequences of rapid demographic change. (Gatestone Institute)
The result, critics argue, has been rising social tension, growing pressure on public services, higher crime in some communities, increasing political polarisation and, most visibly since October 2023, an explosion of antisemitic demonstrations and violence. While the causes of crime and social unrest are complex and vary across countries, concerns about integration have become increasingly prominent in political debate across Europe. (Gatestone Institute)
The tragedy is that antisemitism is only the visible warning light on the dashboard.
If Europe loses confidence in the very principles that created modern liberal democracy, then everyone eventually loses—not only Jews, but women, religious minorities, political dissidents and ordinary citizens who expect equal treatment under the law.
A civilisation survives only while enough people believe it is worth preserving.
That does not mean rejecting immigration.
Europe has benefited enormously from migrants who embrace its laws, freedoms and institutions and who wish to become part of their adopted countries.
But immigration policy cannot simply be measured by the number of arrivals. It must also ask whether newcomers are integrating into the host society or whether the host society is gradually being transformed into something fundamentally different.
Every nation has not only the right but the responsibility to protect the institutions, culture and values that allowed it to flourish.
The real question facing Europe therefore is not whether it can tolerate diversity.
It always has.
The question is whether it still possesses enough confidence to defend the civilisation that made that diversity possible in the first place.
Whether one agrees entirely with Guy Millière's conclusions or not, his article deserves to be read because it asks a question that Europe can no longer afford to avoid.
Read the original article here:
