Esty's+Project

toc =Rationale=

This year our project in English is to find the ultimate, ideal, Israeli citizen. The person I chose to research is my aunt-Nadia Matar. She made Aliyah from Belgium and has been very active in Israel's politics since the Oslo agreements. She has started all kinds of activities to make people realize the dangers that may occur due to the agreements. A few examples of her activities are the organization of street theatres and of people chains along the Green Line wearing green hats. This activity is what gave the name of the grass root organization she founded with the help of her mother-in-law Ruth Matar called "Women in Green" (or "Women for Israel's Tomorrow"). I admire Nadia Matar because she puts her beliefs into actions and dedicates ehr life to the cause. She also never gives up despite the challenges in implementing her beliefs. I hope that thanks to Nadia Matar I will learn how to help my community and put //my// beliefs into action. I hope this project will help me form my Israeli identity and help me understand the meaning of living in Israel.

=**Profile**= **// YES, WE CAN! //** // Nadia Matar is a living example of this motto! //  ** Nadia cherishes her memories of her visits to Israel as a little girl very much. She remembers geting off the plane, looking up, seeing the **
 * incredible blue sky and smelling the smell **** of 'Erez Yisrael'! **

 Nadia Matar is an energetic and active woman who is always on the move to help save and cherish the lands of Israel.

Born in Antwerp, Belgium in a Jewish home full of Jewish pride and Zionism where Israeli news was highlig  hted and important, Nadia remembers during the Belgian newscast that the children were allowed to make as much noise as they pleased but when news about Israel was brought up they were shushed. She understood from an early age, that there was something special about Israel. Nadia joined the youth movement Bnei Akiva and was very active in that environment. At school, she was a shy ‘goody good’ which made her mother say that she started demonstrating in the ‘Women in Green’ because of the lost stage of revolting in her adolescence.  Despite her comfortable childhood, Nadia always felt that Belgium was //not// where she belonged and instead, always had a longing to go "home". She believed that in order to be home and be part of Jewish history she had to come to the place where the Jews are supposed to be – Israel! She felt very proud of being a Jew and emphasized that pride in Belgium amongst the ‘Goyim’, by wearing a big Star of David.

 Nadia Matar immigrated to Israel in year 1986 in hopes of getting married, raising a family, being a little involved in the community and maybe getting a BA as well. One goal she did not achieve was becoming a business woman. Instead, she founded the 'Women in Green’ – a movement that protests handing over any lands of Israel in exchange for the illusion of peace with Palestinians. This movement started when Rabin came up to power and became prime minister. He first wanted to give away the Golan which broke one of the promises he promised before going up to power and therefore Nadia was appalled. Her mother in law, Ruth Matar saw a horrible picture in the newspaper of settlers and their kids protesting and this made her understand that the media was trying to portrait that only crazy people and kids who know nothing are demonstrating against giving away parts of Israel.  Together Ruth and Nadia founded a movement demonstrating against this idea to show that also normal people are protesting. The movement was called 'Women for Israel's Tomorrow' which meant that Israel shall stay for the next generations. They believed that something had to be done about the situation even if it seemed impossible. One of Nadia’s favorite quotes that she really relates to is: ** "לא עלייך המלאכה לגמור ולא אתה בן חורין להיבטל ממנו" ** Explanation: Even if the task cannot be completed, you're not exempt from trying. A few months later the Oslo Agreements were signed and the movement was shocked and outraged. They realized how step by step the agreements were going to shrink the Jews back to the 1967 borders = the green line. They organized a chain of people on the green line, who wore green hats and held signs saying; “Wake up Israel; this is where they want to bring us back to”. They were trying to make Jews from all around realize the consequences of the peace agreements. The media started recognizing Nadia's movement as "Women in Green", a name that sticks to the present day!

Nadia is inspired by anyone, even without a special degree in demonstration, who stand up for the beliefs and acts upon them. She is inspired by the woman of Chevron who didn’t accept the decree of the army ruling against Jews living in Chevron. They had a goal to try their hardest and hopefully reverse the decree. 13 woman and their children settled in Beit Hadassah, a building in Chevron with horrible conditions and not a lot of food. With the help of others, although it seemed impossible, they managed to wake up the government and achieve their goal. Nadia was very inspired by these women, and feels it's her duty as a citizen to stand up, voice out and act upon her beliefs.

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">There are a lot of people dealing with issues in all kinds of different fields but Nadia feels that there aren’t enough people focusing on Israel's issues. Therefore she feels it's important and fulfilling to know she's helping build the State of Israel. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">In addition, Nadia's demonstrations also helped build her personality because she learnt to overcome her shyness. She understood that even at hard times when you just want to stay home, hide and try to forget about the situation you're in, you can't. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">Nadia's message for the adults of tomorrow is that you can't only think about yourself but you have to remember that you are a part of a nation and a country and everyone needs to contribute in some way.

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Corbel; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">Nadia not only works all week long on saving lands of Israel, but also has a whole family to raise and give dinner to every night. She says; "Every woman who is married is a juggler; she has a lot of responsibilities but after time she learns to juggle everything at once and of course - with the help of 'Hashem'."

=<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">Background Research = __ My background research __ ** What are the achievements of an ultimate Israeli? ** <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">‘Women for Israel’s Tomorrow’ or better known as ‘Women in Green’ is a grassroots movement that was founded in 1993 by Ruth and Michael Matar. The movement was built by a group of women and men from all over Israel who were brought together by their shared beliefs, love and loyalty to the State of Israel. They fight together in order t0 stop the transferring of land in Israel to the Palestinian Authority. Since the beginning of the movement, their motto was "Eretz Israel Le'Am Yisrael"- "The Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel"!

Nadia Matar, the head of the Women in Green, and Yehudit Katsover, one of the 13 women of Beit Haddasa, both settled with their whole family in Gush Katif before the expulsion. There they met and found they had a common goal. They joined forces and until this day they are fighting to save state land in Israel. One of their impressive achievements is Shdema - an army base close to Har-Choma and Tekoa. Shdema was abandoned by the Israeli army and was in danger of being transferred to the Palestinian authority. Thanks to the continuous activities of ‘Women in Green’, a permanent army base was set up in Shdema. Yehudit Katsover explains that even thought there isn’t Jewish settlement in Shdema yet, “we continue to be active, because Shdema is not only Shdema. This is a struggle for all Eretz Israel.” ( Karish-Hazoni, 28)

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">The ‘Women in Green’ is very active in the course of the whole year. Some of their activities are related to their Jewish dates. Every Tisha Be’av for the last ten years, in order to emphasize the importance of Jerusalem, the ‘Women in Green’ organize a big event which includes Megila reading and a walk around the Old City. In the year 2000 Nadia gave a speech in which she explained how that year was different than any other because that year the Jewish people “are dealing with Jewish leaders who IDENTIFY with the enemy and his demands” “this year is the first time that we are commemorating Tisha B’Av while at the same time the leaders of the Jewish people in Israel are plotting, together with our enemies, another Exile and another destruction for the Jews” (2). <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">The Women in Green strongly believe that Jerusalem holds a central place in Jewish history. After finally returning to Jerusalem after two thousand years it is important to not let any harm come to it and keep the true capital of Israel in the hands of the Jewish nation.

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Calibri; line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">Adurayim is another place which was abandoned by the IDF. The ‘Women in Green’ helped maintain Jewish presence in Adurayim, in order to overcome security problems which may occur with the transferring of this state land to the Palestinian Authority. They also believe that in addition to the security problems, “one does not abandon any part of the land of Israel” (Katsover, 1).

The Jews are dealing with a lot of struggles due to territorial problems. The ‘Women and Green’ are fighting to save these territories and keep them in the Jewish hands while other groups are making agreements with the Arabs in order to try to make peace accords even if it risks going back to the 1967 border. Nadia Matar, the chairperson of ‘Women in Green’, believes that the real struggle that the Jewish people are dealing with today is the disagreements and opposing opinions between the Jews. The best way to solve the impossible problems of Israel is if we all unite. =** Creative Connection **=

I made a map of Israel filled with views from all over Israel. Some of the views are places made by man and some are pictures of unaffected nature. These different places in Israel remind us of the diversity and beauty of Israel. I was trying to portray the importance of keeping all these beautiful and amazing places of the land of Israel in the Jewish hands and to show how lucky we are to be living in it. I also wanted to show how we turned this uninhabited, deserted land into a fertile and developed country. My project is about Nadia Matar and her movement, the ‘Women in Green’ who work to save the holy land from being transferred to the Palestinian authority. I am inspired by this movement because they love and cherish the land of Israel. They will, despite the hardship, work their best at all costs to put their beliefs into action. I really think we should all learn from them and fight for what we believe in.

=** Reflection **=

Before the interview with Nadia Matar, I found this project very different than the usual projects where we simply research a certain person. Here we had to interview a real person. I found this project different and enriching and now I'm proud of having finished it. Writing the interview questions made me start getting excited but during the interview itself, I really felt part of this whole project. I felt like I understood the Jewish nation’s connection to Israel and the importance of contributing because of that connection. I interviewed Nadia Matar who really inspired me by the way she expressed her love to Israel and her pride of being a Jew. She expressed the special connection of ‘Am Yisrael’ to ‘Eretz Yisrael’. She taught me that every Jew is part of a whole = ‘Am Yisrael’, therefore every Jew has to contribute to Israel in some way. In addition, this project also strengthened my belief that anything is possible, all you need is to get up, be active and keep trying through the struggles.I’m still trying to find my job in order to contribute to Israel and I really hope that in some way, I will be able to make a significant change. =** Works Cited **=

Matar, Nadia. “Mah Nishtanah - Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?”. //Archive for the 'August 2000' Category.// Women in Green, 10 August 2000. 18 February 2011.

Katsover, Yehudit and Matar, Nadia. "Tomorrow in Adurayim". // Archive for the 'Aduraim' Category. // Women in Green, 5 July 2010. 19 February 2011.

Karish-Hazoni, Hodayah. " Citizens Have the Power to Change the Reality”. // The Hebrew Makor Rishon //// . // The Hebrew Makor Rishon, 26 November 2010. 20 February 2011.