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Grégoire Canlorbe

Donald Trump

A conversation with Alain Destexhe, for Gatestone Institute

A conversation with Alain Destexhe, for Gatestone Institute

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Déc 19, 2025

Pictured: Alain Destexhe pictured during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on February 20, 2019. (Photo by Paul-Henri Verlooy/AFP via Getty Images)

Alain Destexhe (MD), an honorary senator in Belgium, is a former secretary general of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), former president of the International Crisis Group, and former president of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF. He has written 15 books on Belgian politics and international issues including Rwanda and Genocide in the Twentieth Century. He is a regular contributor to Gatestone, Le Figaro and several media outlets in France. He also practices medicine in France and overseas.

  Canlorbe: As someone who studied the genocide in Rwanda, would you say that a genocide is also underway in Gaza?

  Destexhe: A genocide targets a particular group—ethnic, racial, or religious. We can speak of genocide in Rwanda because the extermination targeted the Tutsis as a group: men, women, and children. Certainly, some Hutu opponents were also killed, but they were not targeted as members of a group.

  The legal definition of genocide is probably secondary. What matters is the political definition and the historical signification: the extermination of a group. In the Middle East, the attempts at crime against humanity for more than 70 years, have been targeted at Jews. Defending oneself by responding after a major massacre is not a genocide. If you do not want your people killed, do not attack your neighbor. The October 7, 2023 massacre itself was probably intended as a genocide if Lebanon and Iran had joined in. Israel found itself attacked for the past two years on seven fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Iran. That looks more like a genocide. In Rwanda, all Tutsis, men, women and children had to be killed; when Hutu political opponents were targeted, their wives and children were spared. They were killed by others Hutus as political opponents, not like the Tutsis for their supposed ethnicity.

  As for Gaza, there is no genocide: there is no intention from Israel to exterminate the Palestinians, and women and children are not specifically targeted, even though there are, obviously, civilian casualties. What is targeted is the destruction of a terrorist group, Hamas, and its fighters. With the Tutsis in Rwanda, genocide is absolutely undeniable; in the case of Gaza, the accusation is totally unfounded.

  Canlorbe: Are you concerned that the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 is a foretaste of what awaits Europeans?

  Destexhe: Yes: there exists, in a part of Islam, a fierce hostility towards the West. When Muslims become the majority in a society, it undergoes profound transformation. Other citizens—Christians, secularists, or others—then become, in a way, second-class tolerated citizens, dhimmi.

  We even see this in relatively open countries such as Malaysia or Indonesia, where it is no longer so simple today not to be Muslim. These are places where Islam tends to assert itself through sharia, the Islamic legal code, even if it is not officially applied in the country.

  Between Islamist fanaticism—that of Hamas, among others—and the West, Israel occupies a particular place in this region of the world. What the terrorists did to Israel on October 7, is just part of what radical Islam would seemingly like to extend to the West. They do not have the means to do so at the moment, but if they had, I am convinced they would act accordingly. In this regard, we are extremely naïve to think that this will not happen. For Europe, this prospect remains distant, but demographic upheavals could accelerate the threat.

  Canlorbe: Is Islam really at fault in the hatred that Islamists express towards the West? Or does religion simply serve as a pretext to legitimate a certain slant?

  Destexhe: Hard to say. I am neither an anthropologist, nor a psychologist, nor a sociologist. But yes, I believe there is what René Girard called “mimetic desire,” a wish to copy others. Overall, the populations of Belgian origin remain more affluent, as they benefit from a century of wealth accumulation: Belgian prosperity was not created overnight, it is the result of previous generations, of workers, entrepreneurs, and economic actors who enabled the prosperity of the West.

  Thus, a form of jealousy or envy might arise: an immigrant who arrives without having participated in this construction benefits from social allowances but remains, on average, less wealthy than others. Yes, I believe there is a mimetic element at play here. That is why the left constantly talks about “taxing the rich”: “I want what you have, so you should give it to me.”

  Canlorbe: You raised the correlation between the ethnic composition of the 2025 graduating class of the Faculty of Law at the Free University of Brussels and the decision of that graduating class to choose Rima Hassan, a French jurist and politician of Palestinian origin who has proposed a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as their sponsor. Do you see in this tribute to Hassan a sign of radicalism or capitulation?

  Destexhe: The reality is more complex. In the choice of Rima Hassan as class sponsor, two factors came into play. The Arab-Muslim students—to put it simply—are now extremely numerous. There seems to be an Arab-Muslim circle comprising about 8,000 members out of around 30,000 students: that is considerable. This component appears to have played a role in the choice of the graduating class.

  The radicalized European “far-left” also appears to have had an influence—it is even likely that they initiated the choice of Hassan. Overall, this choice looks as if it resulted from the conjunction of this far-left and the now very numerous Arab-Muslim students at the university.

  Canlorbe: Regarding these currents of Islam which are open to interpretation and doubt, why do they prosper so little in Western universities?

  Destexhe: Those seem to be minority currents that are sometimes persecuted by the dominant Islamic currents. I fundamentally believe that the crux of the problem lies in the idea of submission—Islam means “submission” to Allah and His Word, as stated in the Quran and the Hadiths. From there, the sacred text is no longer up for discussion. Whatever one may say, this text is quite harsh: the will to convert the entire world to Islam, apostasy punishable by death, Jews and Christians presented as dhimmis, “tolerated,” second-class citizens, or as people to be fined or converted. There is, in the very text of the Quran, a totalitarian aspect.

  Thus, a majority of Muslims can always say: “it’s written in the Quran”—meaning said by the Almighty, like the Ten Commandments in the Bible—and consider that any other reading must therefore be erroneous. It appears to me that what poses problem is the totalizing nature of the text. Since it is not permissible in the Muslim world to contest—or even to discuss—the Quran, one always returns to the letter. Apostasy is central and regarded as punishable by death. One might reply that, in practice, the implementation differs according to Muslim people; yet, for those who refer to it literally, “it is written,” thus it is The Truth.

  Canlorbe: How do you explain the hostility that most Belgian or French media have towards Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu? It is said that Trump forced Netanyahu’s hand to reach the peace agreement and the release of the last remaining hostages still alive.

  Destexhe: I must say that this discourse leaves me perplexed. To what extent could Netanyahu have been “forced”? After all, he also wanted the hostages released, subscribed to the Trump plan and had an interest in trying to conclude the war—even though it does not seem over.

  With Israel, there always has to be a “bad guy”. The European left regrets the “good old days” of the Labor Party—Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, etc.—which coincided with the dominance of social democracy both in Europe and in Israel. It was this group that brought Israel the Oslo Accords, which only succeeded in legitimizing the Palestinian Authority and its ongoing “pay-for-slay” terrorism. For the past twenty to thirty years in Israel, Likud has become, almost continuously, the leading party in the country. Therefore, because Likud embodies the Israeli right, it is despised by the media and the Western “left” and designated as the scapegoat. It appears that these circles have never accepted that the Israeli majority has turned away from the “peace now” narrative put forth by Rabin and Peres, or that it has rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, although since the attacks of October 7, 2023, the idea of a Palestinian State next to Israel appears over for everyone.

  In this context, Netanyahu takes on the role of the “villain”, while he is, objectively, a major statesman. He holds the record for longevity as Israeli Prime Minister, and he recently led the country in a simultaneous confrontation with several actors—Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, the Houthis from Yemen, Hamas. Even if nothing is truly over in Lebanon or with Hamas, and the Houthis retain a capacity to cause harm, Netanyahu’s track record at the helm of Israel remains positive and remarkable.

  Canlorbe: What do you say in response to the discourse that assigns responsibility for October 7 to Netanyahu?

  Destexhe: That is, forgive my expression, pure bullshit. What is fundamentally reproached to Netanyahu is having tolerated Qatar’s financing of Hamas—those planes filled with cash, transiting through Israel, ended up in the pockets of the movement. Netanyahu made a misjudgment—he is not the only one—in thinking that at some point Hamas would choose peace, the development of Gaza, and renounce the war against Israel. That was a mistake, period. However, this does not mean that the policy of financial injections into Gaza was intrinsically bad: it was a bet that turned out to be lost. It was a mistake because Hamas used that money to prepare and wage war. But no one really protested, certainly not even the EU, which was aware that Hamas received funds from Qatar.

  I have been to Gaza twice, a long time ago. Gaza could resemble Tel Aviv. The territory is large enough, there is water, agricultural potential, and access to the sea. With peace, recognition of the State of Israel, and massive investments, Gaza could become prosperous. Saying that “Gaza could be Singapore” is not absurd; at the very least, let’s say Tel Aviv. Two million inhabitants is not insurmountable. But Hamas chose war and the misery of the Palestinian people, fully knowing that Israel would retaliate.

  In Gaza, the maps of the region only show one Palestinian state: Israel was not included. In reality, Palestinians, not just Hamas, have never admitted the existence of the State of Israel. The PLO continues to claim the right of return for “refugee” Palestinians to the lands of 1948, which would mean the end of the State of Israel. By the way, after 77 years, they are no longer refugees; it is the UN that perpetuates this myth.

  So I do not blame Netanyahu at all for October 7. The major failure was that of Israeli intelligence—reputed to be excellent—which saw nothing coming. The problem is having mistakenly believed, in hindsight, that Hamas could be appeased. This obviously does not make Netanyahu responsible for the attacks of October 7. That accusation is absurd.

  Canlorbe: What is your assessment of how Doctors Without Borders [MSF, Médecins Sans Frontières] engages with Hamas in the context of its humanitarian interventions in Gaza?

  Destexhe: I spent a total of twelve years at Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in various roles, and I am sad at what MSF has become. In Gaza, MSF is working with a totalitarian organization. Working in Gaza means working with—and under the control of—Hamas. Therefore, in my view, Doctors Without Borders has become complicit with Hamas throughout the war and should have withdrawn, stating: “We do not operate alongside a totalitarian movement and regime.” Hamas controls Gaza.

  This complicity of Doctors Without Borders is inexplicable—perhaps a serious mistake that calls into question the charter of neutrality and impartiality of Doctors Without Borders. Furthermore, Doctors Without Borders’ presence did not appear essential on the ground: many Arab or Muslim organizations—Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, other countries in the region—could send doctors, nurses, and supplies. Muslim countries are eager to help the people of Gaza. Doctors Without Borders’s added value is zero: others could do the job. Not only has the organization found itself, willingly or not, in a situation of complicity with Hamas, but it has also endorsed the idea of a “genocide.” It has echoed, almost word for word, the campaign we led in 1994 in Rwanda—“You don’t stop a genocide with doctors”—a slogan I still saw displayed recently at Doctors Without Borders’s headquarters in Brussels.

  Doctors Without Borders seems to have shifted from a neutral and independent humanitarian organization to a leftist activist organization. Gaza has not been the first signal; there were also the rescue operations in the Mediterranean, which fuel the engine of illegal immigration. Desperate people know that NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders, will pick them up at sea; despite the tragedies, the crossing remains perceived as possible, and indeed is still possible. Doctors Without Borders thus contributes to this flow towards Europe—and this is, in my view, sad and regrettable.

  It is difficult, however, to take on Doctors Without Borders: it is a sacred cow in the West. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate—which I also received, as a member of Doctors Without Borders—the organization enjoys such prestige that neither the media nor even right-wing parties dare to criticize it. The role of Hamas’s accomplice that Doctors Without Borders has played in this affair has, in my opinion, not been sufficiently highlighted.

  Canlorbe: Can we accuse Doctors Without Borders of covering for Hamas when it diverts humanitarian aid?

  Destexhe: Yes, of course: they cover everything Hamas does. They not only condone the diversion of humanitarian aid but also the conduct of the war. All Doctors Without Borders’ posts on X regarding the conflict target Israel, I have not seen one clear call for the release of hostages. However, the release of the hostages was key to ending the conflict: the war would have stopped much earlier if Hamas had agreed to release them. Doctors Without Borders did not ask for this because the organization operates under Hamas’s control: calling for the release of hostages would have risked confronting them.

  We must not forget that the Doctors Without Borders staff in Gaza is predominantly Palestinian. In a report written at the end of 2023, we showed that Doctors Without Borders members in Gaza actually celebrated the attack on October 7 and that many of them posted messages on Facebook applauding Hamas that day. Therefore, this is not just a problem of diversion of aid: it is a global complicity with what happened, and above all, an incomprehensible refusal—in my eyes—to insist on the decisive element that the release of hostages represented. They could have said: “Stop bombing civilians and release the hostages.” But no, that requirement was never emphasized. This is very serious. Unfortunately, the few criticisms—including mine—have been little publicized. Overall, if Doctors Without Borders’s image has not been tarnished by this affair, so they will not change.

  Canlorbe: Do Doctors Without Borders or other similar organizations, in your opinion, care about all persecuted or allegedly persecuted populations? Or do they, so to speak, offer humanitarian aid à la carte, which would sidestep, for example, the Uyghurs?

  Destexhe: The problem is that you first need access to the ground to be able to denounce a situation. The organization seems not to have access in China. Doctors Without Borders’s communication about Gaza is much more significant than about crises that are perhaps more serious but much less publicized, such as in Yemen or Sudan. “Palestine” has always held a special place for NGOs and the left.

  Canlorbe: Are you sympathetic to Trump’s efforts to get Russia and Ukraine to conclude a peace agreement?

  Destexhe: It is an old, wise principle in foreign policy, dear to Kissinger and Nixon, that The United States should never have as an enemy more than one nuclear power at a time. With the war in Ukraine, particularly under the Biden administration, a solid alliance has formed between Moscow and Beijing. The West, accordingly, is now in potential geopolitical confrontation with two nuclear powers. So, yes, I am sympathetic to Trump’s efforts to get a “deal” for peace in Ukraine and, from there, restore good relations between Washington and Moscow and break the alliance that has formed between Moscow and Beijing. The task, admittedly, is extremely difficult: the Russo-Chinese axis is now quite solid—although perhaps not definitive, considering a long common border, diverging demographics, and interests.

  Canlorbe: According to you, the security and sovereignty of Taiwan are of utmost importance for the West. Could you elaborate on this subject?

  Destexhe: The annexation of the island by mainland China would be a serious setback for the United States, destabilize the entire Pacific region, and undermine the trust of America’s allies. In reality, in 1895, after the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Taiwan became a Japanese colony. From 1895 to 1945, and then, from 1949 until today, Beijing has exercised no effective control over the island.

  That the 23 million inhabitants of Taiwan are treated as pariahs in international representation—without an embassy in the classic sense, without a seat at the UN, and even deprived of normal participation in the work of the World Health Organization (WHO)—constitutes a major anomaly. Among the “new Asian tigers” (excluding Australia and New Zealand), Taiwan possesses the most advanced democracy: a free press, regular elections, and political alternation since 2000 (the first direct presidential elections took place in 1996). Taiwan actually ranks alongside European countries in democratic assessments. Supporting Taiwan and its 23 million inhabitants is therefore a geopolitical, strategic, and democratic imperative.

  Taiwan is a stable state that renounced acquiring nuclear weapons in the 1970s. If Taiwan—hypothetically—had them today, Beijing’s policy would obviously be affected, and there would likely be no risk of invasion, according to the logic of “deterrence from the weak to the strong,” which General de Gaulle favored for France.

  Canlorbe: How do you assess the attitude of Belgium’s current Prime Minister, Bart De Wever, on the Ukrainian issue? It seems that De Wever, ever since his term began in February 2025, has repeatedly assured Zelensky of his support while committing to Trump to dedicate 5% of Belgium’s GDP to defense spending. De Wever recently expressed, nonetheless, his opposition to the idea of using frozen Russian assets in Belgium to finance Ukraine.

  Destexhe: I do not know what Bart De Wever thinks personally about the Ukrainian issue, but there is a constant: Belgium does not take positions that deviate from the European or Atlantic consensus because it derives significant economic advantages from hosting both the NATO headquarters and that of the European Union. In other words, its room for maneuver remains limited: it will always align with the consensus of the European Union and NATO, without distinguishing itself. In reality, Bart De Wever aligns with this line because he has little choice.

  On the issue of frozen assets, De Wever is completely right. This seizure would be illegal. Even President Roosevelt did not seize Japanese assets in the United States during World War II. The European Union is desperate because it does not have the money to finance Ukraine, and the United States no longer wants to do so. Hence this proposal to seize Russian assets. But these are primarily held in Belgium. So it is Belgium alone that would suffer an incredible shock with the withdrawal of billions in investment from Belgium—it could be regarded as a lack of confidence in the Belgian banking system. Other European countries are much less affected and, tellingly, they do not propose to seize Russian assets in their own countries! Belgium could potentially be exposed as having to reimburse the amount of the confiscated sums, and confidence in the euro would risk being permanently shaken. That proposal is simply madness, but there is nothing surprising coming from the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen.

  Canlorbe: Brussels, which was sung about by Rimbaud and Verhaeren, now evokes less poetry. How would you summarize what has happened to the Belgian capital?

  Destexhe: It is painful for the inhabitants. A few years ago, Donald Trump caused a scandal by calling Brussels a “hellhole.” In the early 2000s, Belgium—and much of Europe—adopted a series of disastrous laws that led to uncontrolled migration flows, particularly from Muslim countries. First, tens of thousands of people were admitted, creating a powerful incentive to come to Belgium. Then came an extremely permissive family reunification policy: it was possible to bring in one’s ancestors—parents and, in fact, grandparents—as well as children from a previous marriage. This welcome mat was compounded by one of the most lenient asylum policies in Europe: obtaining status of a political refugee was relatively simple, even based on false documents and hard-to-verify humanitarian arguments. Finally, access to Belgian nationality was particularly easy: three years of residence—two for refugees—with few requirements for linguistic, cultural, or economic integration. All of this has produced a spectacular demographic transformation of the country.

  Regarding urban cleanliness, I also see a cultural dimension. Not all neighborhoods have the same problems. I often go to Rwanda; Kigali is cleaner than Brussels, so it is also a question of political will.

  Canlorbe: Does justice play its role in the face of assaults, attacks, and shootings?

  Destexhe: There is a certain “culture of excuse,” as we say in French: blaming others, avoiding responsibility, finding social roots to violence. Belgium also suffers from a lack of effective judicial tools. Unlike France, there is no immediate appearance before a judge. As a result, several months, even years, can go by between an assault and a judgment. This is a major problem because the penalty loses its effectiveness as an example. Added to this problem are prison overcrowding and insufficient prison places. In a small, densely populated country, it is difficult to build new prisons: local residents often oppose them. The result: crime is exploding in Brussels, particularly related to drug trafficking. Additionally, a situation that was once non-existent—weekly shootings—has emerged in just a few years. In Brussels, in many aspects, a general laxity has settled in. Just as there are “failed states,” Brussels is becoming a “failed city” or a “narco city”. In 2013, I wrote a small book, Brussels, A Clockwork Orange. The media mocked it. Today, statistics show that our capital is one of the three most crime-ridden cities in Europe.

  Canlorbe: Regarding restoring order in Brussels, would you support a measure equivalent to Trump’s decision to send the National Guard to Washington, Los Angeles, or Portland?

  Destexhe: No, I do not believe in such a miracle. The army could, of course, restore a certain calm in some neighborhoods, but the problem is deeper and structural. Fundamentally, it would not change much: the drift has gone too far, and with the current demographic composition of Brussels and its political fragmentation, it would be very difficult to turn back.

  Canlorbe: Could you elaborate on the situation in Mayotte, a French island in the Indian Ocean, where you worked as a doctor and which you describe in your book Mayotte: How Immigration Destroys a Society (2025) as being at the forefront of the harms caused by uncontrolled immigration?

  Destexhe: Mayotte is a French department, the department being the administrative division of France; it is the 101st, the most recent since 2011. The island has an estimated immigrant population of nearly 50%. Immigration is out of control and exploding there. The Mahoran society—French—is profoundly shaken: a climate of generalized insecurity has overtaken the place. At sunset, around 6:30 PM, the streets empty out, including in the capital, which becomes deserted—a condition that had never happened before. Public services are overwhelmed in the name of the principle of equal access: healthcare and education are offered under the same conditions to Mahorans and immigrants, leading to the saturation of health facilities and a degrading quality of services for Mahorans. Schools face the same pressure: a fourteen-year-old adolescent who arrives from Comoros or Madagascar without speaking French is placed in a class with peers his age, which lowers the overall level and places demands on the teacher to support those who are struggling. The administration is also inundated: laws—urban planning, environmental protection, turtle protection, and so on—are poorly enforced due to a lack of resources and the scale of the situation. Probably nothing can be resolved without a radical halt to migration flows. Mayotte thus experiences a harmful triptych: generalized lack of security, dislocation of cultural harmony, and exponentially deteriorating public services (healthcare, education, administration).

  What I observed in Mayotte seems, to varying degrees, already at work in Belgium. When the proportion of immigrants becomes too high, the quality of education and healthcare decreases for locals. In Brussels, for example, hospitals see thousands of patients of foreign origin, most of whom have not contributed to social security. In a saturated public system, waiting times lengthen: sometimes one has to wait more than a year, to get an appointment with a specialist. This deterioration is a consequence of mass immigration that is rarely discussed. For the Belgians, the quality of public services declines. In a way, Mayotte played the role of a forerunner for what awaits us. The trend already exists, in Brussels as in certain French cities.

  Canlorbe: Can we say that Wallonia—and, broadly, Belgium—are, in a way similar to Mayotte, a laboratory for leftist policies that are destroying Western Europe?

  Destexhe: Absolutely. Belgium—although primarily Brussels—serves as a laboratory for what Europe might face tomorrow: drug trafficking, insecurity, a weakened state, electoral clientelism, deterioration of public services, widespread dissatisfaction, housing shortages, political impotence, … All indicators show that in Brussels the national cohesion is eroding. The myth of a “Brussels citizen” who no longer exists is perpetuated: Moroccan, Turkish, Pakistani, French, Italian, Polish communities coexist along with the people of Belgian origin, who now represent only 23% of the population. Politics has been reduced to catering to fragmented communities based on religion and on national origin (Turks, Moroccans, …) and its corollary, client-ism. During elections, Turkish candidates, for example, scour the voter lists, identify Turkish names, and target only those voters.

  What do I have in common, for instance, with a Muslim woman who lives according to strict religious norms, does not work, speaks little or no French—and has never contributed to social security? This is another major issue: in hospitals, courts, and school appointments, we see people arriving with translators, due to a lack of proficiency in a national language. When looking for electoral assessors or jurors for criminal trials, many are disqualified because they do not speak either French or Dutch. Ultimately, what do we truly share with these people even if we have the same papers and political and social rights?

  There was, for me, an extremely revealing moment that the Belgian media ignored. During a Belgium-Morocco match, won by Morocco, Brussels was filled that evening with Belgian-Moroccans, most of whom had dual nationality, who were celebrating Morocco’s victory loudly. That evening, it was evident to everyone that they felt more Moroccan than Belgian. Normally, having lived for a long time, or even having been born in Belgium, they should have felt both Belgian and Moroccan; clearly, that was not the case.

  Canlorbe: Regarding the Turks settled in Belgium, particularly in Brussels, do they live according to the secular morals advocated by Atatürk for his people? Or do they, on average, turn towards Islamism?

  Destexhe: They are increasingly turning towards Islamism because they remain much more Turkish than Belgian. It is as simple as that. Atatürk’s secularism is increasingly belonging to the past, even though much of Turkish society has tried to resist Islamization. The secular policies of Atatürk persist in part of the population, but the original identity remains a major factor of belonging: a Turk will (almost) always be more Turkish than Belgian, a Moroccan more Moroccan than Belgian.

  During Turkish elections, for instance, Turks in Belgium are more likely to support Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party [AK Party] than are voters living in Turkey, with a gap of about 10 to 20 points in favor of Erdoğan at each election. This practice also exists in France, but it is even more pronounced in Belgium—seemingly striking evidence of the primacy of original identity.

  Canlorbe: Do you still hope that Belgium will recover in the long term?

Destexhe: In politics, I act like a doctor. I start by making a diagnosis: here, population change. Then I propose a treatment: here, measures such as drastically reducing family reunification and asylum. Can we still mitigate the population change even with such strong measures? In Brussels, demographic evolution is practically irreversible, especially since the Belgian middle classes continue to leave the city: this situation is only amplifying. I still have some hope for Wallonia and Flanders.


That conversation was originally published on Gatestone Institute, in November 2025

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 7 September attack, Alain Destexhe, Benjamin Netanyahu, Brussels, Donald Trump, Gaza, Grégoire Canlorbe, Islam, Wallonia

A conversation with Bat Ye’or, for Gatestone Institute

A conversation with Bat Ye’or, for Gatestone Institute

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Juil 10, 2025

Bat Ye’or is an Egyptian-born British author and historian, who has focused on the history of religious minorities in the Muslim world and on the geopolitics of the European Union. She is known for introducing the West to the concept of dhimmitude, and forging the concept of Eurabia.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Could you start by reminding us of the motivations of the networks that orchestrate the EU’s migration policy and its anti-Israeli stance?

  Bat Ye’or: The motivations of the networks in these two areas—the EU’s migration policy and anti-Zionism—are different but converge in their cumulative harmful effectiveness. This cumulative effect results from the deliberate policy of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to link their relations with EU countries at every level to a European anti-Israeli policy.

  The surrender of the European Community to these demands in November 1973, was obtained through the intolerable pressures of jihadist terrorism, particularly aircraft hijacking by the PLO in Europe, and the economic strangulation of Europe at the time through a severe Arab oil boycott. This linkage, however, is also part of the historical Christian tide that obstructed by all possible means—even through the genocide of Jews throughout Europe (1941-45)—the restoration of a Jewish state in its homeland. This current—allied with jihadism from the very beginning of Zionism[i] and in collaboration with the Muslim Brotherhood, particularly in the 1930s-40s and up to the present—can be seen by Europe’s support for the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, and all anti-Israeli forces.

  The networks organizing the EU’s migration policy wrap themselves in a humanitarian ambiguity that conceals their financial sources. During the 1970-80 period of developing the EU’s Mediterranean policy, these motivations encompassed the entire range of Euro-Arab relations, as was officially stated later in the Barcelona Declaration (1994). Other declarations and dialogues among peoples, cultures, civilizations, and demographic hybridization—along with an important Muslim-Christian theological dialogue—aimed to create a homogeneous Euro-Arab strategic framework around the Mediterranean. This area—without Israel, if possible, and free from American influence—would supposedly gain from a strong Muslim immigration to Europe, and provide a civilizational and, above all, ethical source for the West, according to a globalist perspective of a Euro-Muslim hybridization, which would be created by a massive presence of Muslims in the West.

  This perspective was, for example, articulated by Javier Solana, High Representative for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (1999-2009). In his presentation at Helsinki (Feb. 25, 2004) Solana declared, “Closer engagement with the Arab world must also be a priority for us. Without resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, there will be little chance of dealing with other problems in a region beset by economic stagnation and social unrest.” He then explained that future security would depend on a more effective multilateral system.[ii] Europe would become stronger in building a stronger United Nations, and in being firmly committed to effective multilateralism.

  All these motivations were integrated into the soft jihad strategy in the West, and sponsored by the OCI.

  Canlorbe: How does the Eurabia plan influence the EU’s foreign policy toward China and Russia?

  Bat Ye’or: I cannot answer for China, but regarding Russia, it is clear that a fractured and weak Christianity has always been an easy prey to jihadist invasions. It must be noted that the collapse of those empires was due more to internal enemies connected to those outside the empire than to military battles. This was particularly the case with the Islamization of the Byzantine Empire, especially after the schism in 1054, which divided Christianity into two hostile entities, Western and Eastern.

  In the Eurabian context, the hatred and delegitimization of Israel provide a spiritual and theological weapon for the European trends of Islamophilia and anti-Semitism to abandon Judeo-Christianity and rally to Islam. The current war aims to replace Israel with Palestine, an entity that has never had historical existence and a creature forged by Christian anti-Semitism from the 1970s[iii]. Palestine had a special connotation in early Christianity regarding Jews. The destruction of the ancient kingdom of Judea by the Roman army in 135 CE and its renaming as Palestine, was interpreted by Church theologians as a divine punishment against a supposedly deicidal people. The Christian prohibition to Jews to return or live in their homeland is rooted in this belief, as well as the traditional Christian anti-Jewish antagonism. As for the Muslims, the word and notion of Palestine is absent from the Quran; their war against Israel is based on the jihadi ideology which requires that Islamic law rule the planet. Islamic belief, however, destroys the historical foundations of Judaism and Christianity to replace them with the Islamic vision of biblical history, in which Islam preceded the other two religions. Palestinianism, the common Muslim-Christian fight against the Hebrew state, can only hasten the de-Christianization of the West. The case of Lebanese Christianity, destroyed by the PLO—an organization supported by Europe to eradicate Israel—is an illustration.

  Canlorbe: Will the new Trump administration have a positive impact on issues such as the situation in Gaza and in Ukraine, in your opinion?

  Bat Ye’or: I had high hopes that this administration would succeed in bringing peace to Europe, but too many forces and interests wish to weaken the European continent through the deterioration of the war in Ukraine, and I fear that we are heading in that direction.

  As for Gaza, as long as Europe continues to collaborate with all the military-terrorist organizations that clearly display their extermination policy against the Jewish people, we will see no improvement. The first condition for a positive issue is to free the pseudo-Palestinian people from their eternal refugee status, imposed and instrumentalized against Israel by the EU as a weapon of destruction to replace the Jewish State. After all, the so-called Palestinians—mainly Arab and Muslims immigrants from the 19th century who had fled from Israel during the Arab 1948 war which they provoked hoping to exterminate the Jews—proclaim that they belong to the Arab Ummah [Muslim community]. Until the 1970s, they had campaigned under the banner of Arab nationalism with their leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Amin al-Husseini, Hitler’s admirer, ally and collaborator. Many could return to their homelands: to Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. None of the sacred Arab and Muslim texts mentions a geographical location in the biblical Hebrew territories, nor any historical episode that would justify a connection with land in today’s Israel.

  Europe could let them go to the 56 Muslim states or the 22 Arab countries, all of which were formed through the expulsion of millions of non-Muslim natives who, for their part, never benefited from any universal and providential aid like that provided by UNRWA. As a former refugee from Egypt striped of all possessions, I can attest to this, as do millions of Jewish and Christian refugees from Arab countries over the centuries, particularly after the failed 1948 Arab war of invasion against Israel. Europe never condemned the military invasions by five Arab States that seized and colonized Jewish lands according to both the Balfour and San Remo Declarations. There, their millenary old Jewish population were killed or expelled, their houses pillaged, their synagogues burned. Europe felt no need to provide help. It is true that just three years before, it was busy to deport Jews to the extermination camps spread over its territory. It was not prepared to help them against its former ally.

  Canlorbe: In the Middle Ages, Rabbi Maimonides (who was appointed the head of the Jewish community in Egypt) saw Islam as rooted, albeit imperfectly, in Biblical teachings; and as intended—within the divine plan—to civilize the pagan Arabs and prepare them for the universal reign of the Torah in future messianic times.

  Bat Ye’or: I share Maimonides’ opinion. One must understand the primitive and cruel living conditions of the inhabitants of Arabia before Muhammad to appreciate the value of the elements of humanity and spirituality brought by the Quran. The Arabs themselves, witnessing the example of the Jews and Christians in Arabia, hoped to obtain from Muhammad a similar religion. Muhammad responds to their request and tells them that he has brought them a religion in Arabic for Arabs. It is up to Muslims to undergo bringing their religion up to date, as other religions around the globe have done, to uphold values free from the prejudices of the past. As for messianic times, I would not even dare to imagine them.

  Canlorbe: May the harmonious relationship between Israel and Sunni states raise hopes for the fulfillment of Maimonides’ hope?

  Bat Ye’or: Perhaps… on the condition that they accept the people of Israel, their redemptive mission within humanity, their liberation from the ignominy into which the Christian accusation of deicide has confined them—a charge abrogated by Vatican II but still factually present in the Western refusal to recognize Jewish sovereignty in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. A second condition needs to be the abolition of the inhumane status of dhimmitude[iv], enshrined in the jihad ideology that aims at destroying all non-Muslim faith in order to impose the shariah laws over the planet. We are still far from this move … However, the definitive abrogation of dhimmitude, which would occur through the recognition of the legitimacy of the State of Israel in its historical homeland, is a principle that would benefit all of humanity and promote peace among everyone.

  The tsunami wave of hatred against Israel and Jews that submerged the West since the 7/10/2023 embodies precisely this nazi-jihadism exuded by Christian-Muslim alliance against Zionism, so pregnant since the 1923 Lausanne Treaty. This Treaty legitimized a sovereign State for the Jewish people in their historic homeland with secure borders from Gaza to the Jordan River. Simultaneously, the same Treaty created on 70% of a Palestinian territory delineated for the first time since the Roman conquest (135 CE), the establishment of an Arab state for Muslims and Christians. Those decisions ratified by the League of Nations are endorsed by its successor, the UN and cannot be nullified.   This modern anti-Israeli exterminatory wave is the prolongation of the Euro-Arab anti-Zionist Nazi alliance that produced from the 1920s the anti-Jewish hatred that generated the Shoah. It continues today, carried over by the Eurabian ideology. However as the European states support for murderous anti-Israeli jihadist ideology grows stronger, the more these states are destroyed by it. In Islam, Jews and Christians are cut from the same cloth. What is done to Jews is done to Christians as well and vice-versa as they have exactly the same legal statute. This is the great lesson given to us by the knowledge of dhimmitude and for this reason, forbidden. Yet we can see by our own eyes Europe collapsing under a self-injected poisonous Jewish-hating Eurabian venom.


[i] See Bat Ye’or, Le Dhimmi documents avec une étude de Rémi Brague, Les Provinciales, 2025, p.42.

[ii] Speech of Javier Solana at Helsinki, 2/25/2004, “The European Security Strategy—The Next Step?” in Cahier de Chaillot, Vol. V, n° 75, Sécurité et Défense de l’UE, Textes fondamentaux, 2004. Institut d’Etudes de Sécurité, Union européenne, February 2005, Paris.

[iii] In January 2004 in the course of an European investigation on EU misdirected funds by the Palestinian Authority, Javier Solana, the EU commissar for foreign policy and security, declared that Europe’s duty was to help the Palestinian Authority, adding, “If it didn’t exist we would have to invent it!”, in Le Temps, Geneva, February 4, 2004. See Bat Ye’or, Eurabia, The Euro-Arab Axis, 2005.

  See also: “After a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution. It would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN and set a calendar for implementation. It would mandate the resolution of other remaining territorial disputes and legitimize the end of claims. If the parties are not able to stick to [the timetable], then a solution backed by the international community should be put on the table.” – EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, during a lecture in London, asserting that if Israel cannot arrive at a final-status agreement with the Palestinians, the UN should enforce its own. (Jerusalem Post, July 12, 2009)

[iv] Dhimmitude is the name given to the comprehensive political, social, juridical, religious Islamic system governing the non-Muslim populations that were defeated by the Jihad war. It has, therefore, its roots in the jihad ideology and military legal rules. From the 8th to the 12th century, as the Muslim jurisdiction developed, it integrated in the shariah jurisdiction built on Muslim sacred Scriptures the system of dhimmitude. A great number of Christian anti-Jewish laws from the fifth and six centuries were absorbed into dhimmitude. This common anti-Jewish ground led sometimes to a Christian-Muslim alliance for persecuting Jews in Muslim countries. In the 20th century, this trend achieved its peak in the Shoah and is now renascent after fifty years on anti-Israeli indoctrination.


That conversation was originally published on Gatestone Institute, in June 2025

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bat Ye Or, Dhimmitude, Donald Trump, Eurabia, Grégoire Canlorbe, Islam, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israelis, Maimonides, Palestinians

A conversation with Igal Hecht, for Gatestone Institute

A conversation with Igal Hecht, for Gatestone Institute

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Mai 5, 2025

In 1999, Igal Hecht created Chutzpa Productions Inc. His award winning films have been described as controversial and thought provoking. His films have dealt with human rights issues to pop culture. Throughout his twenty-year career, Igal Hecht has been involved in the production of over fifty documentary films and over twenty television series. Igal’s films and television series have been screened nationally and internationally on Netflix, Prime, BBC, Documentary Channel, CBC, YES-TV (Canada), HBO Europe and many others.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: The Killing Roads investigate the pogrom perpetrated across the Gaza envelope on October 7, 2023, with special attention paid to the attacks launched on the roads in southern Israel. How did you proceed with gathering, and crafting, the introduced testimonies and audiovisual material?

  Igal Hecht: When October 7th unfolded, I began collecting and archiving every piece of footage that emerged—raw, unfiltered, and often horrifying. As the days passed and the scale of the atrocities became undeniable, I knew I had to make a film. But with so much devastation, I needed to focus on a specific, often overlooked aspect of the attack.

  In November, Haaretz and The New York Times published articles about the massacres on the roads. That became my focal point. I began researching, speaking to survivors, and quickly realized that aside from Israeli TV, no one was truly exposing what happened, particularly on Route 232 and Route 34. On those roads alone, Palestinian terrorists, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and civilians from Gaza (as if there’s any real distinction between them) murdered around 250 innocent people.

  A few months in, I started reaching out to survivors, and with my trusted collaborator, Lior Cohen, who I’ve made over 25 films with, we set off to Israel. In early 2024, I spent a month filming in and around Route 232, Route 34, Sderot, the Nova festival grounds, kibbutzim, and cities like Sderot and Ofakim. We conducted over 20 interviews and shot nearly 40 hours of footage. Ultimately, we focused on seven stories. They were each distinct, each offering a different angle of the carnage that unfolded on those roads.

  The visual evidence was crucial. We incorporated footage from survivors, Hamas propaganda videos, security footage, and, thanks to Hatzalah, we obtained 50 hours of raw material from ambulance teams. These first responders documented everything. Every horror, every burned-out car, every bullet-ridden body, from the moment the attack began.

  This wasn’t just a massacre; it was a Nazi-style atrocity committed by Palestinian terrorists. The Killing Roads doesn’t rely on rhetoric, rather, it presents the truth, unfiltered and undeniable. The horror is laid bare, and it must be seen to ensure that no one can ever deny or rewrite what happened.

  On October 7th, Palestinian terrorists and civilians from Gaza committed a mini-Shoah against Jews in Israel. They didn’t just murder—they raped, burned, and mutilated women, children, and men because they were Jewish. And if that wasn’t enough, their woke progressive and Islamist sympathizers in Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Australia celebrated the bloodshed. That is the grotesque reality Jews around the world are facing today.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Genocide is a reality you had already covered—through documentaries on the Holocaust, as well as on Rwandan, Bangladeshi, Cambodian, and Yezidi genocides. How did it feel, this time?

  Igal Hecht: This time, it was personal. My family lives in that region. I had family members in Sderot fighting off terrorists. I lost brave colleagues. The victims weren’t nameless figures from history books; they were my people.

  And what made it worse was the reaction in Canada. People I thought were friends, colleagues I had worked with, openly supported or excused the butchery. October 7th stripped away the masks. It revealed a deep-seated antisemitism that had always been there, lurking just beneath the surface.

  For me, making this film wasn’t just about documenting history, rather it was a mission. It was my way of saying fuck you to every person who tried to justify, minimize, or celebrate this slaughter. That’s why I made The Killing Roads freely available online. Unlike many filmmakers who compromise to appease broadcasters—who bend to absurd rules like not calling Hamas “terrorists”—I refused to sanitize the truth.

  This film doesn’t offer excuses or euphemisms. It shows, in brutal clarity, what Israelis endured that day. And it does so without concern for political correctness or the fragile sensibilities of those who sympathize with murderers.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: In Canada, what is the average perception of Israel, the Hamas (and similar organizations like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), and Donald Trump’s Middle-East policy?

  Igal Hecht: Under Justin Trudeau, Canada has become the leading hub for Islamist terrorism support in North America. That’s not hyperbole. This is a fact.

  The very day of the October 7th massacre, Muslim activists and their woke, antisemitic allies flooded the streets of Toronto and Montreal, chanting in Arabic for the extermination of Jews. I filmed it. I published it. Nothing happened. Apparently, Canadian police can’t find a single Arabic translator.

  From the start, the Trudeau government’s priority wasn’t justice—it was appeasement. Canada, like the UK and much of Europe, has chosen to bend the knee to Islamic fundamentalism.

  The average Canadian gets their information from a publicly funded broadcaster that pumps out anti-Israel propaganda daily, much like the BBC. These journalists take Hamas press releases as gospel and only issue weak retractions after the damage is done. We’ve seen it repeatedly, from The New York Times parroting Hamas casualty figures to the BBC recently producing outright propaganda films.

  And the result? A 630% rise in antisemitic attacks in Canada. Synagogues vandalized. Jews beaten in the streets. Jewish students in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver physically blocked from attending school—just like in Nazi Germany. Yet, the media downplays it, and politicians look the other way.

  If this unchecked immigration and tolerance for Islamist extremism continue, Canada will follow the path of the UK, France, and the Netherlands. In 10 to 15 years, we’ll see the same no-go zones, the same normalization of antisemitism, and the same erosion of Western values. That’s the trajectory unless people wake up.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Do you see some impact of the Abraham Accords with respect to the partnership between Israeli filmmaking and the movie industry in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and other Sunni states?

  Igal Hecht: To be honest, I don’t know. It’s not my world.

  What I do know is that the Abraham Accords were a game-changer, and President Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for them. Of course, he won’t get one—Obama got his for good intentions, while Trump actually delivered peace. That tells you everything.

  The Sunni states are waking up to a simple truth: the main obstacle to peace isn’t Israel. Rather, it’s the so-called Palestinians and their genocidal fantasies. Remove that factor from the equation, and Israel and the Arab world can thrive together.

  The Palestinian issue has been the Middle East’s perpetual cancer. More Arab leaders are starting to see that. Hopefully, the rest of the world will, too.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You wrote, produced, and shot Streets of Jerusalem and several other documentaries set in the holy town. How do you sum up the sort of cinematographic aesthetics the light and architecture in Jerusalem allow for?

  Igal Hecht: Jerusalem is visually unparalleled. It’s not just a setting, it’s a character.  I’ve filmed there for 25 years, and there isn’t a corner of the city my team and I haven’t explored. The aesthetic contrast is breathtaking. The ancient architecture interwoven with the modern, the energy of the people, the ever-present layers of history. You can set up a camera in the Old City or Mahane Yehuda market and capture something cinematic without even trying. Every frame tells a story. It’s why I keep going back and hopefully will again for my next project with Lior Cohen.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Please tell us about Easter in the Holy Land, which covers Christian pilgrimages in the Land of Israel in the Easter season. When it comes to conveying mystical experience, is movie as eloquent a medium as are literature and painting?

  Igal Hecht: Easter in the Holy Land is a feature-length documentary (or a three-part series) that I’m incredibly proud of. I had the privilege of working alongside cinematographers Lior Cohen and Gabriel Volcovich, as well as filming myself. Every frame is meticulously crafted—each shot looks like a painting.

  We filmed across some of the most sacred Christian sites, Bethlehem, Nazareth, the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and, of course, Jerusalem, particularly the Old City. The film is a visual and spiritual celebration of Easter, offering audiences an intimate view of the deep significance of this holy season in the very land where it all began. More than that, it highlights a truth that is often ignored or distorted: Christian pilgrims in Israel experience absolute religious freedom.

  Despite the lies spread by far-right Christian antisemites and Arab nationalist propagandists, Israel is the only country in the Middle East where Christians can freely and safely celebrate their faith. In contrast, throughout the surrounding region, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, Christians face persecution, intimidation, and even violence. Yes, there have been isolated incidents in Israel, and they are regrettable. But unlike in many other places, here, those who commit crimes against Christians are arrested and held accountable.

  Ultimately, Easter and Christmas in Israel serve as testaments to the reality that Christian minorities here can observe their holiest days without fear. This is something that is virtually impossible anywhere else in the Middle East.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Do you plan to direct an equivalent documentary on Jewish and Muslim pilgrimages in the Holy Land?

  Igal Hecht: I haven’t given that much thought, but it would be fascinating to create a trilogy covering all three Abrahamic faiths. The challenge, as always, is funding and securing a broadcaster willing to take it on.  People don’t realize how difficult it is to produce content that explores faith and religion, especially for mainstream television. It’s not impossible, but there’s a definite bias against it. I’ve been fortunate to work with broadcasters who see the value in faith-based programming, but they are few and far between. The reality is that many networks shy away from religious content unless it fits a specific agenda.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: What is your view about the filmic treatment of Jerusalem in the time of the crusades? How do you assess, in particular, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven?

  Igal Hecht: Aesthetically, Kingdom of Heaven is a stunning film. This is exactly what you’d expect from a director like Ridley Scott, with his massive budget and extraordinary craftsmanship. Beyond that? It’s all subjective. The film, like most historical dramas, takes artistic liberties. But that’s the nature of cinema… especially when dealing with a time period as complex and politically charged as the Crusades.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: In another recent documentary, The Jewish Shadow, you address the condition of Ukrainian Jews in the 1970s, under soviet rule. What did you choose to highlight about their condition—and how it has been evolving after the Soviet Union’s fall?

  Igal Hecht: The Jewish Shadow is an incredibly personal film. It was shot long before the war in Ukraine, and it focuses on the life my parents lived under Soviet rule.  To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. This is not because it isn’t a good film, but because of how I approached it. I told my parents we were making a family roots documentary, but in reality, I pushed them to confront the antisemitism they endured. In the end, I apologized to them for putting them through that.

  Ukraine has a dark and undeniable history of antisemitism. One that still lingers in certain parts of the country today. But when the war broke out, it complicated everything. I had to grapple with the realization that my view of Ukraine is shaped by generations of Jewish persecution, whereas my parents, despite everything they went through, still have a deep attachment to the place. They lived there. They had friends, careers, and a sense of home… even if antisemitism was a constant shadow over their existence.

  That, in many ways, encapsulates Jewish life in the Diaspora. We integrate, contribute, and flourish; until history repeats itself. Until the inevitable moment when we are reminded that, no matter how much we belong, we will always be seen as different. And because of that so-called difference in the minds of antisemites, the hatred against us is justified. Or, as we are seeing now in places like Canada and many parts of Europe even celebrated and encouraged.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Thank you for your time. Is there anything you would add?

  Igal Hecht: You can watch The Killing Roads at www.thekillingroads.com or catch it on the Documentary Channel at www.documentarychannel.com.   For additional information about Igal Hecht and his films, visit www.chutzpaproductions.com


That conversation was originally published on Gatestone Institute, in March 2025

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 7 September attack, Canadia, Donald Trump, Easter in the Holy Land, genocide, Grégoire Canlorbe, Igal Hecht, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott, The Abraham Accords, The Jewish Shadow, The Killing Roads, Ukraine

A conversation with Robert B. Ekelund, for Man and the Economy

A conversation with Robert B. Ekelund, for Man and the Economy

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Nov 26, 2020

  Robert B. Ekelund is eminent scholar emeritus at Auburn University. Besides authoring The Marketplace of Christianity and Economic Origins of Roman Christianity, he co-authored with Robert F. Hebert A History of Economic Theory and Method, and with Mark Thornton Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You claim the mercantilist doctrine to have been first and foremost a rationalization of rent seeking—and the balance-of-trade objective a by-product of mercantilism rather than the primary motive for the latter. Could you come back to this subject?

  Robert B. Ekelund: Yes, so-called “state policies” remain a rationalization of rent-seeking today as they do and did in any society when political or other institutions are able to grant privileges to individuals or groups at the expense of societal welfare. The book with my late friend Bob Tollison (Mercantilism as a Rent-Seeking Society: Economic Regulation in Historical Perspective, 1981) argued that there is no “state” interests, per se, but individual or group self interest molding and guiding economic policy within a polity. Rationalization of the balance-of-trade theory (or tariffs and subsidies) is merely an expression of a process of particular rent- or profit-seeking individuals or groups or institutions. Tollison and I argued that this approach describes mercantilism better than a rosary of so-called “characteristics” that evolved in the literature. This process was as alive in ancient Egypt as it was in medieval Europe under the aegis of Roman Catholic Church control or as it is in modern day United States or France.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: After the Obama Administration’s commitment to drive America down the road to serfdom, many expected Trump to be a sort of Reagan on strong steroids—and to dismantle the socialist agenda of his predecessor just like Reagan did with Carter’s. For now has Trump been up to this mission?

  Robert B. Ekelund: Assessing the success or failure of any political administration is always difficult. Obama inherited a set of institutions—including a monetary policy of madness over the Bush years—and left a set for Mr. Trump. Obamacare, if that’s what you refer to as a “road to serfdom,” was merely an evolution to an inevitable single-payer Canadian/European medical system. One must look to the history of rent-seeking in medicine and all allied fields. Physicians demanded and received state (and then federal) regulations at the end of the 19th century to stabilize and increase their incomes. That tentacular control ultimately led to the limitation in the number of doctors, the number of hospitals and regulation of all ancillary fields, including medical insurance and pharmaceuticals. The number of physicians has not kept up with population growth; hence the march to some kind of “socialized” system. Such rent-seeking cannot be undone due to the institutionalization of profit-seeking interests. The damage that Mr. Trump’s administration has done to the institutions of a free society dwarfs Obama’s or any president before him. The deficit and debit (before the Covid crisis) ballooned under Trump. It declined under Obama. Trump’s trade policies could not withstand the logic of Economics 101. His assaults on the freedom of the press and the freedom from religion would give Thomas Jefferson apoplexy. Trump’s only mission has resulted in a march to tyranny and not one to socialism, although at some points they overlap. If Obama’s policies were a road to serfdom, Trump’s are a super-highway.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You have been highly active in the field known as economics of art. You have been as much involved in the historical study of the Catholic Church as an economic firm. How do those combined approaches enlighten the flourishing of painting and sculpture during the Italian Renaissance?

  Robert B. Ekelund: The Catholic Church acted as super-national government prior to and during the Italian Renaissance. In the Italian case, the Church supported those families who oversaw the Church’s vast financial empire, especially the Medici’s. (Italy was an agglomeration of political powers rather than a unified nation). These powers were competitive in all things, including art and scientific patronage. Artists also competed to become patrons of particular rulers and formed a stable of intellects and talents that reflected upon the glories of their supporters. Great art and sculpture were one result. (We find a similar situation in the high-stakes commoditization of art today among the uber wealthy). In addition to patronage the Church used various tactics—for example, threats to eternal salvation, a chief aspect of their monopoly—to obtain great art. Michelangelo’s homosexuality was used against him as a cudgel to complete the Sistine Chapel and other projects. His sublime productions for the Church may be looked upon as a kind of “penance.” Forgiveness of sins and special blessings were used in trade to get artists and sculptors to produce. Valuable emoluments in all fields from members at all levels of society were obtained in this manner. Why? Because the Church, at that time and place, had a monopoly on assurances of eternal salvation. It manipulated theology, marriage and usury, among many other policies, to maximize wealth and membership. The road to heaven was a toll road.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: As a historian of economic thought you especially dedicated yourself to exhuming the pioneer contributions by Jules Dupuit and Sir Edwin Chadwick—in the respective fields of microeconomics and the economics of regulation. How do you sum up their work?

  Robert B. Ekelund: Dupuit and Chadwick were pioneers for quite different reasons. My career-long study of 19th century engineers, the French engineer Jules Dupuit (1804-1864) in particular, yielded an astonishing result. In work joined by my friend and colleague Robert Hebert, we established that Dupuit had uncovered and developed traditional contemporary (neoclassical) microeconomics in its full measure before the mid-19th century. Our research is reported in Secret Origins of Modern Microeconomics: Dupuit and the Engineers (1999). Those inventions include standard market theory, monopoly theory including a sophisticated discussion of the degrees of discrimination, welfare theory, marginal cost pricing, spatial analysis, time and transport costs, and empirical economics. In short, the origins of partial equilibrium “Marshallian” economics are French, not British and they occurred before the middle of the nineteenth century. In contrast, my work on Edwin Chadwick, alone and with others, focuses on his prescient theoretical anticipation of the modern field of law and economics, including Coase’s analysis of social cost and proposals for franchise bidding in natural monopolies. While Dupuit and Chadwick studied different issues, their attempt to invent and integrate theory, institutions and policy analysis was astonishing for their time or in any time.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: While Austrian economics endorses the law of supply and demand—the selling of any commodity, not necessarily at a profitable price, but at least at a price equalizing the supply and the demand which are linked to the aforesaid price—it claims to dismiss the ideal assumptions of neoclassical economics. Yet those assumptions—convex preferences, “perfect” competition, and demand independence—are seemingly the theoretical conditions under which the law of supply and demand is operative. How do you make sense of the Austrian position?

  Robert B. Ekelund: I have sometimes noted that in some areas of economic theory the distinction between Austrian and neoclassical economics is a distinction without a difference. Marshall, and Dupuit before him, expressed a formal theory of supply and demand using ceteris paribus assumptions together with the factors you describe. The emphasis was on continuity in expressing demand curves and they are amenable to mathematical manipulation. Although standard neoclassical theory and Austrian theorists both emphasized rational behavior, the Austrian theories of demand and production featured discontinuities rather than continuities—a feature of both Marshallian and Walrasian versions of competition. When probabilities are added to the latter, prediction is possible. Thus, while both approaches to economic behavior are similar, the Austrian version eschews prediction in favor of description in analysing economic functioning. Thus, both versions of neoclassical economics reemphasize rational behavior and economizing but Austrian economics “do” economics differently than orthodox Marshallians.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You rightly point out the fact that Stuart Mill was the first to show how the law of markets—the profitable equalization between aggregate supply and aggregate demand notwithstanding the below-cost sales which may happen locally—was rendered inoperative in the presence of hoarding. In classical economics another acknowledged limitation to the law of markets lied in the periodic outbreak of entrepreneurial mistakes—by reason of factors such as the distorting of interest rates by excessive credit creation. How do you assess the pertinence and the originality of Keynes in this context?

  Robert B. Ekelund: Hoarding does undermine the law of markets but only in a short run context. But what is the cause of hoarding? Not markets, but something like an invasion or a virus which causes an abrupt increase in demand and decrease of supply which temporarily makes price vanish. Hoarding may also be created by a sudden change in risk aversion. Spikes of entrepreneurial errors due to excessive credit creation also seems to undermine the law of markets, i.e., Say’s Law, but what is the cause of excessive credit creation? The British monetary debates tried to identify and fix this cause without much success. This is the economics that Keynes was taught. He apparently just assumed that such flaws were inherent to the market (a liquidity trap?) and the solution was exogenous, i.e., something the government should fix. That it was a short-term fix with deleterious consequences was not emphasized.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: A well-known investigation on your part covers the ascent of Christianity in the Roman empire’s religion marketplace. Should Saint Paul be credited for giving a universal dimension to the nascent Christian message—a pretension to welcome Pagans without asking them to join the Jewish community and to espouse its mores and national destiny?

  Robert B. Ekelund: There is some truth to the statement that without St. Paul there would likely have been no Christianity, at least as we know it. That was due to his entrepreneurial skills which included at least in part a victory over St. Peter’s belief that to become Christian one first had to be Jewish. This meant that non-Jews, courted by Paul’s famous epistles, could become Christians without first converting to Judaism. Males would not have to undergo circumcision (as adults) to join the Christian faith. Apparently, this was an important element in the rapid early spread of Christianity and St. Paul certainly gave a universal dimension to the religion in this regard. Assurances of eternal salvation were the ultimate linchpin in the success of Christian monotheism. The apostles (broadly conceived), with Paul the most significant, were able to analyze that critical aspect of Christian religion.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Do you subscribe to the claim that the adoption of Christianity as a state religion was decisive in triggering the fall of the Roman empire? What may be the economic and politic interests leading nowadays the Catholic Church to promote ecologism and a variety of causes detrimental to the West?

  Robert B. Ekelund: Geopolitical and other factors—“barbarian” invasions, the rise of Moslem religion, the general incompetence of Roman leaders in the first three centuries of Roman rule and the fragmentation of multiple deity worship by the early 4th century—all contributed to the fall of the Roman empire. However Constantine (306-337 CE), ostensibly goaded on by his mother St. Helena, made Christianity—composed of the then-most-popular texts—the official religion of the Empire. The growth and emerging political power of Christians were probably more influential propellants to Constantine. This gave him the power to loot temples and properties of the various “pagan” sects. Later emperors outlawed all other religions and Christian entrepreneurs (apostles) set out to Christianize the world. So, yes, Christianity played a role in the declension of empire, but it was not the only factor. The modern Catholic Church equates the teachings of Jesus to a kind of social democratic polity, one that underlines redistributions and respect for the environment. Right-wing groups, whose political and economic interests are all too obvious, oppose the Church whose grounds are chiefly theological and moral. That does not mean that economics does not underlie the latter as well.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You wrote about the socioeconomic realities of the American Civil War. Could you remind us of the outlines of your approach? Regarding the economics of the Crusades in the medieval era, what are the main facts which deserve to be highlighted here?

  Robert B. Ekelund: Our approach to the American Civil War revolves around the use of basic economic analysis to reveal how blockades, tariffs and monetary matters were conducted on both sides of the War. The North had an overwhelming advantage in the terms of population and industrial development, but the struggle lasted far longer than anticipated by the North. One fundamental issue was that the South was at a disadvantage as a “confederacy” wherein the states did not present a united policy effort. Both economies resorted to the printing press, but the Southern economy was more adversely affected by inflation than was the Northern economy. Most historians focus on battles, armies, and generals to describe the outcome of the war. We emphasize the war at sea. Blockades are typically not very effective because of the incentive of higher prices on both imports and exports mean high profits, plus the possibility of adopting new technologies, i.e., blockade runners. However, in this case the Confederacy adopted policies that disincentivized the blockade runners. In 1864 the Confederacy passed trade legislation that prevented importing luxury goods, put price controls on other goods, and commandeered half of the shipping space on blockade runners. This ruined the blockade running business and the Confederacy began to experience severe shortages and increasing losses on the battlefield.

  The medieval Crusades were (in part) a spiritual device to extend the monopoly of Christianity to Moslem-controlled areas of the East. But attending these organized wars the Church and Church interests received substantial revenue and rent flows. In terms of direct flows, the Church received revenues from tourism and relics. (St Helena initiated the relic hunt in her 4th century trips to the Holy Land). There was an impetus for cathedral building to house such relics providing awe and grandeur “capital” to members. Additionally, another direct revenue source from the Crusades was the “buy-back” of crusading vows by those who subsequently regretted their pledges. Excommunication was the alternative. Numerous indirect benefits to the Church were attached to the Crusades. Peace, order, and enhanced authority were benefits to society as well as to the Christian monopoly. For the individuals who participated there were spiritual benefits (remission of sins) and temporal benefits. Pillage and plunder of “infidels” was legitimized and classes of “warrior monks” (e.g., the Knights Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Teutonic Knights) emerged to fight the Church’s enemies and to spread potentially taxable membership.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Thank you for your time. Is there something you would like to add?

  Robert B. Ekelund: I enjoyed the discussion. Clearly my interests in economics have been diverse. There is one strand that is woven through them—the application of microeconomics, including monopoly theory, industrial organization and law and economics, to a multiplicity of problems. Institutional change has also been a large aspect of my interest in the field. Economic issues are everywhere from the regulation of cosmetology to religion and art. I have tried to find interesting applications in these and other areas and to encourage my students to do so as well.


  That conversation was originally published in Man and the Economy, in their December 2020 issue

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: American Civil War, Barack Obama, Catholic Church, Christianity, Crusades, Donald Trump, Edwin Chadwick, Grégoire Canlorbe, Italian Renaissance, Jules Dupuit, Mark Thornton, Mercantilism, Robert B. Ekelun

A conversation with Howard Bloom, for The Postil Magazine

A conversation with Howard Bloom, for The Postil Magazine

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Mai 4, 2020

Howard Bloom photo 2  Howard Bloom started in theoretical physics and microbiology at the age of ten and spent his early years in science. Then, driven by the desire to study mass human emotion through the lens of science, he went into a field he knew nothing about, popular culture. He founded the biggest PR firm in the music industry and worked with superstars like Prince, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Billy Joel, Queen, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Billy Idol, Joan Jett, Styx, Hall and Oates, Simon & Garfunkel, Run DMC, and Chaka Khan. Bloom went back to his formal science in 1988 and, since then, has published seven books on human and cosmic evolution, including The God Problem, Global Brain, and The Lucifer Principle. Called “next in a lineage of seminal thinkers that includes Newton, Darwin, Einstein, [and] Freud” by Britain’s Channel 4 TV, and “the next Stephen Hawking” by Gear magazine, he is the subject of BRIC TV’s documentary The Grand Unified Theory of Howard Bloom.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: As an entrepreneur in the public relations industry, you were particularly active under the Reagan era. How do you explain that the eighties saw both a return to some conservative values and an explosion of creativity and coolness in music and movies?

  Howard Bloom: That’s a very good question. I’ve never thought of that connection before. My wife had been a socialist when I met her in the 1960s. And then in the 1970s she became a conservative. So she was siphoning money out of our bank account and giving it to Ronald Reagan’s political campaigns—without telling me. She knew I hated Reagan. But I never connected Ronald Reagan with what was going on in popular music at that point. In the 1960s popular music was the music of rebellion. Rock music was about raising your fist and saying to adults: “I have a right to be an individual. I have a right to exist.” Rock was in tune with the hippie philosophy: “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” And, “We’re here to overturn the establishment.” In other words, rock and roll was part of a rebellion whose political activists were working to toss people our parent’s age out of power. That was the 1960s. But there was no overt philosophy—there was no ideology—of rebellion in the 1970s and the 1980s. However if you look at the attitude of the artists who emerged, it was sheer rebellion.

  Joan Jett got onstage and raised her fist. And the way she raised her fist was the strongest part of her message. She was a woman. And as a woman, you were expected to be like Grace Slick or Janis Joplin: the guys had the guitars, the power instruments, and you did not. You simply crooned into the microphone. But Joan was saying: “I’m going to take over the fucking guitar, myself. I have the power. I own the power on stage. And I am going to rebel as a self-contained entity not needing the “weapons” of “males with guitars.” My band? Hey, that’s just an extension of me.” Joan’s was the rebellion of girls who had been raised with working mothers. And for a middle class girl to be raised by a working mother was something brand new. It was a result of the invention of indoor plumbing, the washing machine, the drier, and the dishwasher. Women were no longer the slaves of water-hauling and clothes washing. And the women’s liberation movement had given them the freedom to compete with men in the workplace. Now the daughters of these liberated women had a very new experience of what it meant to be female. And that sense came to a head in Joan Jett. Or it came to a fist. But as for men, I mean, look at several of my other clients. Billy Idol also raised his fist in a gesture of rebellion. Did the anger of these fists have anything to do with the Reagan era? It’s hard to tell.

  John Mellencamp also came to the lip of the stage with his fist raised. If you were here, I could show you the difference between the raised fist of each of those three artists. Each made a slightly different muscular statement—a statement made with muscles. And then, there were bands that were already slipping into acceptance of a parent’s generation, and acceptance of an older generation. Not rebellion, but acceptance. And those were bands like Spandau Ballet, Berlin, which were both my bands, and a bunch of others. Later, the whole attitude of rebellion would disappear from popular music. At least, it would be minimized significantly. In fact, Michael Jackson would live with his mother, his father, and his brothers—an unthinkable act among the rock rebels. And that business of raising your fist on stage would no longer be part of the package, if you were a rock ‘n’ roller. In Michael Jackson it would be replaced by fierce pointing.

[Read more…] about A conversation with Howard Bloom, for The Postil Magazine

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Big Bagel Theory, Billy Idol, China, COVID-19, Donald Trump, Grégoire Canlorbe, Howard Bloom, Joan Jett, Michael Jackson, Prince, Ronald Reagan

A conversation with Daryl Kane, for The Postil Magazine

A conversation with Daryl Kane, for The Postil Magazine

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Avr 1, 2020

Daryl Kane  Daryl Kane is an American politician best known for his book Cultural Cancer: Treating the Disease of Political Correctness, his podcast Right Wing Road Trip, and the journal Revenge of the Patriot whose editor he is. He runs as a Republican candidate for POTUS in 2024.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You are campaigning for the presidential election of 2024 under the banner of Christian morality, economic freedom, ethnic identity, and the fight against leftist cultural cancer. On the issue of immigration, how exactly does your program stand in relation to Trump’s politics?

  Daryl Kane: Immigration obviously is such an important topic and I give Trump credit for emphasizing it in his campaign. Rhetoric aside, how much has he achieved? I’m not sure, I think a lot of good has been done but really when he, when we’re talking about slowing, even stopping the tide, this is a stopgap mentality, it’s not a conversation about solutions. Very clearly, the American people, and really just about all citizens of Western nations—look, this is has been political warfare and the damage sustained is reaching, has really passed a point where we can just end this nonsense without also taking remedial, restorative measures. This is naturally a very charged topic and one which must be approached with sobriety but also with care and humanity. On the one hand we have a ship that is sinking and you know, we can’t just plug the holes, we have to also start removing some of the water. But we’re not talking about water, we’re talking about God’s children so you know, perhaps to the chagrin of some, no I’m not just going to arbitrarily throw everyone out. But you know, I actually don’t think we really have to either. One big talking point for Trump is about moving us to fully merit based immigration which strikes most conservatives as a tough, sensible response. Certainly this is better than the prior lunacy, things like “diversity visas” which for me is a term that I often instruct people to pause for a moment and think about. What exactly is a “diversity visa?” Well, obviously it’s a seat in our country which we are setting aside, reserving for people on the basis of them being less similar to our current citizens than other would be immigrants. For me, you know, I’m not sure we do want to move away from identity based immigration. I think maybe we keep a lot of that stuff, and by the way this pertains to domestic programs as well, where you know we spend billions a year to promote this or that group, really any group that we don’t usually associate with mainstream Americanism. Maybe we keep a lot of this diversity infrastructure, at least the concept of them but we actually invert them, or you know replace them with a desire to reinforce or advocate for traditional Western identity. Maybe we start setting visas aside for, oh I don’t know, white, English speaking Christians? (Laughs)

  You see, no one ever really bothered to explain to Americans why they needed things like diversity visas, diversity scholarships, etc. They were just sort’ve injected in, draped in this very flowery, humanistic rhetoric. I think it’s time to start talking about things like homogeny visas and see what happens when the Left has to justify why it’s ok for them to play this game but not us. Let’s have a national dialogue about the benefits of both ends of spectrum and let’s see which of the two seems more beneficial at this point in time. And look, I’ve said this too, I’m not an anti diversity person. Diversity can be good, it can be bad. I do like being able to enjoy all sorts of unique ethnic cuisine in cities and things of that nature. A lot of people scoff at equality now and you know, I don’t know, that ideal still resonates with me and I don’t want us to lose that ability to make friends from different places, to connect and be decent to one another. But I think quite clearly the level of diversity which we now have, frankly—and this is putting it mildly, it’s plenty.

[Read more…] about A conversation with Daryl Kane, for The Postil Magazine

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cultural Marxism, Daryl Kane, Donald Trump, Grégoire Canlorbe, immigration, Iran, neoconservatism, Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars

A conversation with Joachim Son-Forget, for Gatestone Institute

A conversation with Joachim Son-Forget, for Gatestone Institute

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Déc 27, 2019

1200px-Joachim_Son-Forget_16312  Joachim Jean-Marie Forget, also known as Joachim Son-Forget, is a South Korean-born, French politician and professional radiologist. Since 2017, he has been a member of the French National Assembly (lower house of the French Parliament) representing French residents overseas. He works part-time as a radiologist in Switzerland. He has held Kosovar citizenship since 2018. Adopted by a French family as a child, and holder of a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience, Son-Forget was previously active within the French Socialist Party and later La République En Marche (LaREM) until he resigned from the party in late 2018. He has since founded his own political party, first called “Je suis français et européen” (JSFee), then “Valeur absolue.”

  The following conversation with political journalist Grégoire Canlorbe happened in December 2019, in Paris. An abridged version was first published by Gatestone Institute, in December 2019.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You are known for your stormy positions, for example on ART [assisted reproductive technology]. Do you espouse Julie Graziani’s polemical claim that (in substance) it is better not to divorce for a woman who lives on minimum wage, knowing that everyone, rich or poor, must shoulder its responsibilities?

  Joachim Son-Forget: My point about ART is different from that of pro-life parties, in that it does not carry a desire to discriminate against homosexual people who would like to educate a child. I only notice that nature has made that two men together or two women together cannot give life, and I think we should have the wisdom to respect nature in that case. Certainly we were able—thankfully!—to go beyond nature in various fields: thanks to modern medicine, infant mortality has become practically insignificant in the West (whereas before the nineteenth century, one child in four died before the age of one, and one child in two reached the age of ten). Technical progress has given us opportunities for transportation and communication that were inconceivable for our ancestors. But all of that is out of proportion with the fact of wanting to go beyond nature in the field of gestation. It is a barrier that it would be unwise to cross… were it only out of regard for the existential questions of children born through surrogacy.

  Once again, there is no homophobic discrimination in my speech: I cannot find fault with entrusting orphans to homosexual couples, on the contrary! Regarding Julie Graziani, whom I do not know, and whom I believe is absolutely unknown in France beyond a meager buzz already forgotten, I usually try to look up, and to comment, if not renowned thinkers, at least people who are somewhat existing. So expressing myself about what the housewife of the neighborhood thinks (perhaps her opinion is, in fact, more valid than that of that lady), no I wouldn’t do that! Now, to answer you on the subject matter: family is indeed the traditional economic model of survival in a precarious situation. For those who are penniless, and who live in the anxiety of a blackout or a banking ban, getting married was—and could still be—the opportunity to found a tribe whose members will provide for the needs from each other and will bring assistance, comfort and solidarity to each other. In a world subject to biological or social determinisms like ours, it is a bit illusory to call people to “shoulder their responsibilities.” Epigenetics teaches us how acquired traits such as violence can be rendered heritable (via the messenger RNA game). Certainly education can, in part, remedy determinism just like the eviction of deleterious conditions… at least I like to think it to keep a bit of utopia to move forward.

[Read more…] about A conversation with Joachim Son-Forget, for Gatestone Institute

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Claude Lévi-Strauss, Donald Trump, epigenetics, Grégoire Canlorbe, Japan, Joachim Son-Forget, Julie Graziani, Korean genetics, Maoist China, Mullahs' Iran, North Korea, Park Chung-hee, South Korea

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