I found Bruce Schimmel's "Torture by Hire" [Loose Cannon, Jan. 2, 2003] interesting but disturbing. Schimmel failed to present any evidence regarding his claims that Israel and the United States support the use of torture on Islamic and Palestinian terrorist scumbags. In fact, he admits the accusations of torture have not been confirmed.

Schimmel and others fail to realize we are now facing a new enemy. These "apocalyptic terrorists" want to kill every man, woman and child in the U.S. and Israel. Just as disturbing, these terrorists will not respond to reasoned arguments or negotiations. And many of these alleged non-combatant scumbags support these terrorists. As a result, they have forsaken their rights.

Events such as 9/11, the USS Cole bombing, the Bali bombings, the homicide bombers in Israel, challenge all of us in terms of who we are, what we value and what we are willing to do to maintain our freedom. The questions regarding this war should not be, why go after these scumbags and pricks like Saddam? The question should be, what will be the consequences if we don't?

I believe we have a humane responsibility, as the most powerful nation on Earth, to make every effort to make this planet a safer place for all peoples. If we have to "unleash hell" on a few scumbag, murdering bastards, then so be it. History will be our judge, and I know history will thank us for it.

I need to take issue with Bruce Schimmel's one-sided depiction of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his Jan. 2 column.

Schimmel wrote, "The human rights violations of Israel are well-known. Among Israel's offenses, Amnesty International lists collective punishment, violence against non-combatants and the occasional torture of prisoners, mostly in the form of random beatings with rifle butts."

I leave it to the Israeli government to explain its actions, but Schimmel ignores Palestinian transgressions. If he is concerned about civilians, 441 of 663 Jews killed in the last two years were civilians, according to one estimate reported in the Dec. 29 Boston Globe. If he insists on employing the term "collective punishment," how does he characterize the ongoing murders of Israeli civilians? Since he broaches the question of torture, two reservists were tortured by a crowd of Palestinians before they died.

Bear in mind that the Palestinians started this senseless war, and many Israelis once supported serious attempts by more dovish prime ministers to reach a peaceful settlement. It is fair game for Schimmel to criticize Israel, but to cite Israeli transgressions without mentioning Palestinian offenses is grossly unfair. Such lack of balance amounts to shoddy journalism, which does not measure up to your newspaper's standards.

Don’t Fake the Yunk

I read your Slant, "Exodus on Main Street" [Daz Morrell, Dec. 26, 2002]. What seems to be missing is the understanding of what Main Street was like when I moved here in 1990. Most of Main Street was boarded up and/or burned out. Every third or fourth store was closed. Main Street at that time could have gone either way, and maybe it would have ended up like Ridge Avenue.

Some people think that the "revitalization" displaced traditional businesses, but most of the Yunker businesses that were there in 1990, before the revitalization, are still there: Sip-N-Steaks, Poland Jewelers, Bob's, the barber shop and a few others. It should be noted that some industry still survives on Main Street.

I have read your stories about Manayunk before, about old Yunkers hanging in there while the world they knew changed around them. The real story is some old Yunkers hung in there while most of their neighbors moved out, leaving houses and businesses that nobody wanted vacant. Then a few white people -- this neighborhood is 99 percent white -- realized that houses and apartments in Manayunk were cheap and started to move here. I know that's why I came, and with the mistaken belief that I would be safe here. If you want to write a story that no one is covering, write one about drug dealers in Manayunk.

Warm and Fuzzy Logic

I read Cindy Fuchs' review of The Wild Thornberrys Movie [Dec. 19, 2002] and went with my daughter to see it anyway. Fuchs' take on the picture was so out of whack that I believe she either didn't see it or is carrying around so much pointy-headed liberal baggage that she can't think straight. She writes that "the English-speaking, white humans are set apart from the ŒAfricans,' be they human or animal." Anyone who has seen the movie can tell you that relations between white humans and African humans are positive ones. The relations between white humans and non-human Africans (with the exception of bad-guy white humans) are loving and respectful. Would one expect anything different when protagonist Eliza communicates and bonds with the beasts more closely than she does with most people?

Fuchs' disconnect from the film's reality continues: "Eliza defeating the poachers and saving elephants from their own herdishness is a pleasant fantasy for viewers identifying with her, but also vaguely Disney-like, i.e., imperialistic." I'm OK with Disney-bashing, even when totally misplaced, as in this case, but throwing around vague and ungrounded charges of imperialism brings back echoes of goofy commie rhetoric from days of yore. Did Fuchs study film criticism at the University of Vladivostok?

She also attacks "the energetically cute animation and blandly cute soundtrack." Perhaps she'd prefer something more dark, perhaps Maus-like, in the cartoon. Excluding the hip-hoppy number, all the tunes would be right at home on WXPN, the home of musical diversity revered by great numbers of your readers.

Did Fuchs watch this movie? If so, is she bitter about having to review a kiddie flick or does she harbor some grievance for Nickelodeon? Her negativity makes no sense to me.

Let me say for the record that Claire, my little reviewer, thought it was "great."

Correction

The editor's note in last week's 2002 Writing Contest issue listed incorrect information for the date and address of the winners' and judges' reading. The reading will take place Thu., Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m., Borders Books & Music, 1727 Walnut St.