Dear Chaim,
1) You mentioned how Jews do not and cannot believe in magic. During your explanation of this I could not help but notice your reference to traditional non-abrahamic and pre-Christian beliefs of the Gentiles. You are right! There is no "real" magic! Just a bit of FYI, what the ancient Gentiles had stumbled upon was not Magic per say but actually science. Science such as chemistry, botany (knowledge of the effects of different herbs), knowledge of the effects of natural occuring phenomenon such as elements of fire, wind, water, earth, steel, wood, and sky (weather and astrological events that affect the earth and it's inhabitants, i.e., the gravitational effects of the moon and other phenomenon from the outer universe. Needless to say the still primitive by comparison and uneducated masses looked at these phenomenon as Magical when really they are Natural. Including the power of suggestion that many of the so called Wizards/Witches had. And of course unfortunately the Rulers and Elite of each of these societies took advantage of the knowledge they had and the fact that the masses were naive to enslave the people. And they also went as far as using Idols and false gods to represent each element and phenomenon, i.e. as you said, the power of Rivers such as the Nile. This was with the end of scaring and controlling the people which of course is evil. And of course the Torah is a blessing because it opened the peoples minds up to the fact that all these "Magical" phenomenon were actually the Powers of Nature controlled by the One and True G-d, the G-d of Israel, Hashem!! Thank G-d!! This is why the Jewish Sages are a light unto the Gentiles. And of course this is why the Jews were/are hated because the Elites of these Pagan societies did not want this truth to get to the people. That they were not special or magical but only had particular knowledge of science and were also subject to these natural laws created by the One G-d!
My point of all this is in the hope that you will understand that the Root Beliefs of ancient Pagan religions is not Satanism or Hocus Pocus Mysticism. This is what the evil Elites turned it into with thier intention to be decieving and cruel. But the root of these ancient beliefs is in the scientific knowledge and innovations of the Gentiles which is powerful. Also most of the ancient Gentiles who were Pagans really did believe that all these phenomenon were tied under one all powerful being that went by different names depending on where you were geographically. And incedently it was during the take over of Christianity in Europe that these beliefs were persecuted simultaneously with the Jews and these people killed just like the Jews were, plunging Europe into the Dark Ages where no scientific knowledge was allowed and condemned as Paganistic therefore Satanic. I do not wish to start a beef with the Christians on this forum since they support Israel, but the truth be told and much to my amusement the very fundamentalist Christians who say they support Israel also to this day are against alot of science and knowledge that goes against any notion that "Jesus" created the universe. Even though they're two biggest holidays, Dec 25th and Easter are really Pagan holidays that have been renamed and that truely symbolize Celestial Events.
2) Is it Evil to be very cruel to an enemy who is Evil?? How far is going to far??
Respect to you Chaim!
-Tony 6D2!