Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

Brewerytown's Loss for Kensington's Gain?
I am sick of hearing about people who don't want development in their area [News, "Fight Brewing," Brian Hickey, April 28, 2005]. Why would they want to keep it a ghetto? If they don't want development, tell those contractors to come to the 2800-3100 blocks of Kensington Avenue and the surrounding area and develop there. We'd welcome some new stores and homes.
Barbara Tarvydas
Via e-mail

Return Letters from Israel
Perhaps Hannah Mermelstein does not understand what led to the construction of the security wall [Loose Canon, "Against the Wall," Bruce Schimmel, April 21, 2005]. In the seven years [after] the 1993 Oslo Accord, there was no wall. Palestinians could pass over the Green Line with relative ease. This lasted through two periods of violence that included a series of suicide bombs in 1996. The Security Wall only came as a result of the intifada, which was initiated by Yasser Arafat. He gave the green light for his own factions and Hamas to conduct an intense terror campaign within the Green Line. Numerous suicide bombs in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Nathaniel and many other places led the Sharon government to create a security barrier to keep the bombers out. Up until that point, all they had to do was walk across the Green Line from such nearby villages of Jenkins, Shakily and Tularemia to deliver their deadly terror. No one likes this security barrier, but it is clearly working. As there was no partner for peace on the side of the Palestinians, the location of the barrier was nonnegotiable.

Mermelstein [talks] about the use of nonviolent tactics by the Palestinians. Sorry, but that claim is lost to me and members of my family who have recently served in the West Bank. Arafat's aim was to achieve through the use of violence what he could not achieve at Camp David. He set out to demoralize Israel using the most barbaric means possible, the suicide bomber. If the Palestinians want to place blame for the security fence on someone, they only need to turn to their own flawed leadership and Hamas.

Now that Arafat is gone, hope has returned to the region. Unfortunately, I think the wall will remain a permanent fixture in the region.
David Stein
Philadelphia

The idea of bringing together Arab and Jewish Israeli teens, to create and act in theater pieces, seems like a positive counter to the violence between the two sides we often read about in the mainstream media [Loose Canon, "Children of War," Bruce Schimmel, April 28, 2005]. Efforts to bring people together seems to somehow be deemed "less newsworthy" (read: less bloody).
Lennie Perlman
Germantown

The Answer: $0.00

How much did the City of Philadelphia pay City Paper to run its latest cover story, this time on the wonders of white-trash Port Richmond [Cover story, "Industrial Evolution," Lori Hill, April 28, 2005]? People will eventually realize that trash and historical preservation just don't mix. There is nothing trendy about Kensington, Fishtown, Port Richmond or any other "river ward." Get over it.
Donna Di Giacomo
Germantown

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