- Women for Israel's Tomorrow
Women for Israel's Tomorrow ( _he. נשים למען עתיד ישראל) is a right-wing political women's group in
Israel . It is more commonly known as Women in Green (WiG) (Hebrew: נשים בירוק) due to its followers' "custom" of wearing green hats, in contrast to the older left-wing anti-war organization "Women in Black ".WiG is a registered non-profit organization founded in
1993 , and is not affiliated with any political party. According to the group's website, the movement is "dedicated to the security andJew ish heritage of historic Israel". It is opposed to atwo-state solution ; that is, the creation of a Palestinian state alongside, and mutually recognizant with, Israel. The group particularly opposes the return of land captured in theSix Day War of1967 , and aggressively supportsIsraeli settlement of those territories, which it proposes should be annexed. WiG also opposed Israeli military withdrawal from southernLebanon in2000 .Ruth and Nadia Matar, co-chairwomen of WiG, argue in "Transfer of Arabs is the Only Solution for Peace" that
Arab s in the "Holy Land " are descended from relatively recent immigrants, and favor their "transfer" to the neighboring Arab countries from which, the Matars claim, they originate. They maintain that theUnited States and theE.U. could use the aid they provide (and political pressure) to help resettle Arabs, and that co-operation from surroundingArab states would be required as well. They insist that "Fair payment can be made to those Arabs who agree to leave the Holy Land", and that "Arabs who wish to remain can do so, provided they agree to be a citizen of aJewish State ."WiG's political activism extends to the United States, where it maintains several chapters, which hold demonstrations and fundraisers every year. An advertisement on its website for a protest scheduled for
April 11 ,2005 , when Israeli prime ministerAriel Sharon visited presidentGeorge W. Bush 's ranch inCrawford, Texas , said::"The Arab-Moslem threat is real and palpable. They hate America and Israel and a democratic way of life, and have a completely different concept of what is moral. If you don't take a stand against the Arabs and the Saudis NOW, you will live to regret it ... Before you know it the Arab hordes will be at your doorstep. They believe in no compromise. The Arabs are ruthless, and are waiting and praying for the opportunity to strike. Don't wait until they have Nuclear Arms. Act now, before it is too late!" [http://www.womeningreen.org/]
Nadia Matar , the group's co-chair, caused controversy across the Israeli political spectrum in September2004 when she compared the government's intention to remove Israeli settlers fromGaza to the involvement of the "Judenrat " ("Jewish Council") inBerlin in1942 , which under orders from the German government organized the expulsion of the Jewish community from that city. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=479643&contrassID=13] Matar drew this comparison in a letter she sent to Yonatan Bassi, the head of the department overseeing the civilian aspects of the withdrawal. She attached a copy of a 1942 letter from the "Judenrat", which she claimed mirrored the letter Bassi sent to Gaza settlers explaining the procedures for the evacuation. Matar stated::"Yonatan Bassi is a much worse version of the 'Judenrat' in
the Holocaust , for then in the Holocaust, this was forced upon those Jewish leaders by the Nazis, and it is very difficult for us to judge them today. But today no one stands with a pistol to Bassi's head and forces him to cooperate with the deportation of the Jews ofGush Katif and northernSamaria ." [http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/4186.htm]In the summer of 2005, members of the Matar and Finkelstein families, co-founder of Women for Israel's tomorrow, moved in a shared caravan to Kfar Yam, in the Gush Katif settlement in Gaza. [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/5371]
Activities
*Weekly street theater.
*Public demonstrations, petitions and grass roots activism.
*Frequent press articles, commission posters, newspapers advertisements.
*Lectures to groups regarding political current events.See also
*
Arab-Israeli conflict
*Israeli-Palestinian conflict
*Road map for peace
*Israel's unilateral disengagement plan References
* [http://www.womeningreen.org Website of the "Women in Green"]
* [http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/4186.htm "J'accuse: The background of the accusations against me (1)"] by Nadia Matar, "israelinsider ", September 29, 2004
* [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=479643&contrassID=13 "Yad Vashem slams Women in Green for Judenrat comparison"] by Nadav Shragai, "Haaretz", September 21, 2004
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