Media Monitors Network (MMN)

"Were Arafat to die, Palestinian law provides that the Speaker of the Legislative Council take the reigns of power for 60 days until elections can be held."

"As far as the US is concerned, the two main candidates supported war and competed to please the Israeli lobby in Washington. There were some differences worth noting and all people who voted knew them."

"Arafat’s (and our) tragedy was that whenever he came closer to a peaceful solution, the Israeli governments withdrew from it."

"I see no reason why the government can't play favorites with the majority religion (in our case, Christianity) when it comes to open displays, as long as those who practice other religions are free to do so without encumbrance."

"It takes no special skill or intelligence to liquidate valuable natural resources into cash. It takes skill and thought and care and commitment to say no to endless liquidation."

"The signs are clear. If we are not vigilant, America is destined for Armageddon. The battle for morality in America is nothing less than a battle for national security."

"In the next year, the news will be filled with coverage of the war in Iraq, the nomination of at least one new Supreme Court justice, proposals for tax cuts and any number of other momentous issues that have not been settled by this election. We will need vibrant idealism and political activism as much as ever."

"The anger of the Waziri and Mehsud tribes, as well as of the people of Balochistan, is akin to what the people of erstwhile East Pakistan felt when general Yahya Khan unleashed his army against them in March 1971."

"For the last four years former Israeli premier Ehud Barak, Sharon and US president George W. Bush have worked hard to spread the slogan that there is no Palestinian partner to peace."

"Decolonizing the mind will not be an overnight success, but there are some things anyone can do straight away, once the true nature of the problem is understood."

"The plan, which was drafted in Greece and is called the "Athens Plan", is based on the need to transform Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan from a unilateral program that may bring about chaos, humanitarian crisis and domination by Hamas in Gaza, into a bilateral, Israeli-Palestinian plan, supported by the international community."

"The civilized world still has illusions that it is possible to enforce the rule of law in a totally lawless environment."

"All this comes at a time when we are entering the age of peak oil and the onset of global warming, a moment in history that would require a firm, fair and judicious hand to bring us through a difficult transition. Instead we will have the most extreme, ruthless and irresponsible leadership to drive us into uncharted territory."

"As the world’s media attention is yet again focused on Arafat and the usual analysis about the likely consequences of a power vacuum, it must be cautioned against overlooking the hopes and aspirations of rank and file Palestinians."

"The War on Terror is another quagmire, a deliberate quagmire, and it is a money pit for the privileged few. If their children were fighting it and if they were paying for it and not profiting from it, this war would never have begun -- it just wouldn't be prudent."

"Our television host did not set out to ask who terrorists are, where they operate, how they do it, or even why (although each of these issues inevitably emerged in debate). Instead, he asked point-blank for a definition: what is terrorism? And in doing so, he opened a Pandora's box of history, emotion, frustration, uncertainty and fear, that left none of us unscathed."

"...why would bin Laden want to help his ostensible nemesis get reelected? Maybe because the Bush administration’s “war on terrorism” has done more to help al Qaeda than anything since the invention of gunpowder."

"Much of the media has lost its independence -- public hearings into media concentration, ownership and conflicts of interest are long overdue."

"The heart of the matter is that the current Israeli government has a problem with the roadmap because the roadmap is about ending the occupation. This government, on the contrary, is trying in many ways, including through the so-called disengagement plan, to consolidate the occupation."

"Pakistani Americans voted 80% for Bush in 2000, this time because of the highhandness of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in applying the Patriot Act they will probably vote 80% against Bush in 2004, i.e. Kerry benefits from the widespread dislike for the incumbent. Since Pakistani Americans are affected, for them this is a fair choice."