The gw panel

Gillian Wood Newsreader
The world has definitely changed since September 11, 2001, but not for the better.

The event was an appalling act of mass murder that has sparked two appalling wars in which more mass murder is being committed.
I think it has also polarised the differences between the religious and political spectrums, which has made everybody feel they have to fight for their corner.
And it seems that this is all being used by the more powerful countries of the world such as Britain and the USA, once bastions of liberty and free speech, to encroach on personal freedoms by using a variety of different ruses to spy on the general public.

Subah Sadiqi DJ & Musician
Nothing has changed since 9/11... not really. What we have is mass global paranoia due to the alleged actions of a handful of desperate and disillusioned extremists.
Unfortunately, this tragedy was spun, by western power-hungry moguls and their European and Eastern buddies into this crusade to tighten their grip on the people and commodities of this world. Now, every misinformed Westerner thinks all Arabs and Muslims are terrorists, and people from the East think every American is an evil John Wayne with other “slave’ countries following like blind mice. I know I’m generalising here, but take a look in the media around you, and tell me I’m wrong.
Something needs to be done, but then again I bet you’ll read this then go watch whatever THEY have programmed for you.

George Collins Commercial Diver
The events of 9/11, 2001 have acted as a catalyst to enable our leaders to change our perception of the world. Five years of unceasing propaganda on both sides has disastrously created a new climate of fear and distrust between East and West.
This has been exacerbated by the invasion of Iraq, launched on a flotilla of implication and half-truths, leaving the American and British public scared and confused. Forty-five per cent of Americans believed Saddam was personally involved in 9/11! Where are the WMDs? Have security interests become confused with political and financial interests? A population kept scared is more easily manipulated, to the extent that civil liberties are happily given up in the name of freedom. Iraq is now a shattered society, which could almost have been designed for training of future terrorists.

Damian D’Costa DJ
When the disaster occurred, it turned history 180 degrees. Once the shock of the incident faded away, the line between religions was definitely deeply defined. A line which was only frail before now had put a big question mark on the issue and people from all walks of life had to draw up their own assumption and make a choice.
This is because people could not generalise anymore, but had to truly dig deep into their inner ethics because of the mixture of cultures around the world.
It is very rare in today’s modern society for a Muslim not to have a Christian friend and vice versa...so the line wasn’t drawn between religions so much, but more between hate and love. I’m not talking about the initial response but of the one that will stay with us till the end.