Fwd: Ruth Matar, cofounder of an enduring grass roots movement, passes away

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <imra@imra.org.il>
Date: Sun, Oct 21, 2018 at 3:54 PM
Subject: Ruth Matar, cofounder of an enduring grass roots movement, passes away
To: <imra@imra.org.il>

Ruth Matar, cofounder of an enduring grass roots movement, passes away
Matar and her husband gathered like-minded people around them, and in 1993,
almost as an instant response to Oslo, established what was initially called
"Women for Israel's Tomorrow.'
By Greer Fay Cashman The Jerusalem Post October 21, 2018 18:45
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ruth-Matar-cofounder-of-an-enduring-grass-roots-movement-passes-away-569907

Israelis first learned about Ruth Matar as an artist long before she rose to
even greater fame as a co-founder of one of Israel's most enduring protest
movements: Women in Green.

Matar, who was in her late eighties, passed away on Saturday and was buried
late that night at the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem, following a
service at the Sanhedria funeral parlor.

A Vienna-born jewelry designer who developed her talents in America before
moving to Israel, Matar had a studio and showroom in her home in the capital's
Yemin Moshe, which in her time was well populated by artists, craftspeople,
novelists and poets.

Not everyone knew that she was also a child Holocaust survivor, who at age
eight had witnessed Nazi stormtroopers come to her home, knock down the door
and beat her mother, who had turned back to get warm jackets for the
children.

Distinctly right-wing in her political persuasion, Matar was not only
shocked but outraged by the Oslo Accords. She had never been well-disposed
towards the Labor Party, and even when it was in opposition, she wrote
scathing articles about what she perceived as the negative influence it had
on life in Israel.

But before that, she was determined to do everything in her power to prevent
the implementation of the Oslo agreements. Nothing could persuade her to
cede territory which she believed belonged to Israel. To her, there was no
such thing as the disputed territories. The disputes were among people, and
the territories were part of the State of Israel.

Matar and her husband gathered like-minded people around them, and in 1993,
almost as an instant response to Oslo, established what was initially called
"Women for Israel's Tomorrow.' Matar saw it not only as a protest movement,
but as a defense movement safeguarding Israel's territorial integrity for
future generations.

Rather than come up with uniforms that not everyone would be willing to
wear, Matar hit upon peaked green caps for supporters to wear so that when
engaging in any kind of activity as a group, they would stand out and be
noticed.

Although men were among the members, they were heavily outnumbered by women,
and when the name of the organization was changed in relation to its head
hear, its new appellation was and is "Women in Green."

Aside from its primary purpose, Women in Green has also had educational
projects, tree planting events  and an annual encircling of the Old City
walls of Jerusalem on Tisha Be'Av, and has been a networking movement for
new immigrants and for English speakers and more recently French speakers
who have difficulty in mastering Hebrew.

Whenever the movement needed to make a statement, small clusters of Women in
Green holding up placards with the message of the day could be seen on
street corners.

Matar was a great admirer of Ariel Sharon's until he ordered the evacuation
of Gush Katif, after which she called him a traitor and accused him of
betraying the country.

She was very close to former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi and was
devastated when he was assassinated.

Almost everyone who passionately espouses a cause wants to be sure that
someone will carry the ball when they are no longer in the position to do
so.

Matar was fortunate in a having a charismatic, eloquent, multi-lingual
daughter-in-law whom she was able to imbue with her worldview.

Nadia Matar currently heads Women in Green together with Yehudit Katzover,
and has done so for several years. While the two share equal responsibility,
Matar is the more convincing speaker, who can instantly switch languages
depending on her audience.

Ruth Matar willed them to keep fighting for Israeli sovereignty over Judea
and Samaria and they have every intention of continuing her legacy, and her
belief that the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.
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Sincerely,

Robin Ticker

Activist emails sent to my list  are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch.  May their memories serve as a blessing. 

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