21st victim of Haifa suicide attack laid to rest

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 15 October 2003 | JPOST.COM STAFF

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Oct. 15, 2003
21st victim of Haifa suicide attack laid to rest
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Haifa's Maxim restaurant
Photo: AP

After fighting for his life for 11 days, George Matar, 57, was laid to rest Thursday afternoon in Haifa's Christian cemetery.

Matar succumbed to his injuries – sustained at the suicide attack on Maxim restaurant in Haifa – and died on Wednesday in the city's Rambam hospital, bringing the death toll of the attack to 21.

The Matar family are the Arab co-owners of the Maxim restaurant, jointly run by Jews and Arabs. George, a Haifa resident, was an employee of the restaurant, and was working there at the time of the attack. He will be buried Thursday in Haifa's Christian cemetery.

On October 4th, a female suicide bomber detonated herself in the packed beach-front restaurant that served as one of the city's beacons of Arab-Jewish coexistence. Twenty one people, including four children, were murdered in the attack, and scores wounded.