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Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
We owe it to Vivian Silver to fight for peace
If you're fortunate enough to have a friend like this, you'll understand: someone who has been in your life for so long, you can't really remember a time when they weren't. For Lynne Mitchell, that friend was Vivian Silver, a Canadian-Israeli peace activist – renowned and revered, a giant in the movement; adjectives that aren't often used to describe peaceniks. She co-founded and ran organizations. She was a strong feminist. She protested, peacefully. She drove sick children from Gaza to hospitals in Israel. 'She would march for her causes at noon and tuck us into bed at night,' recalled one of her two sons, Chen Zeigen, to the CBC. In Israel, Ms. Silver co-founded the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Co-operation; she was executive director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development; and in 2014, she co-founded Women Wage Peace, which brings together Israeli and Palestinian women. Canadian activist Vivian Silver dedicated her life to peace. Her son has inherited her legacy 'Enough. We're no longer willing to do this. We must reach a political agreement,' Ms. Silver said in 2017, during a march calling for an end to the occupation. 'We've been told that only war will bring peace. We don't believe that any more. It's been proven that it's not true.' Ms. Silver grew up in Winnipeg, where she met Ms. Mitchell, who now lives in Toronto. They remained friends, and Ms. Mitchell visited her many times in Israel. On one visit, around 2000, just before the second intifada, Ms. Mitchell and her husband were staying with Ms. Silver at her home on Kibbutz Be'eri, very close to the Gaza border. They travelled to Gaza City to visit a Palestinian friend Ms. Silver knew from her advocacy work. 'We met his family, had lunch together, toured around, saw the beach, the hookah clubs, the market,' Ms. Mitchell recalls. 'It felt like peace was possible.' Sometimes on those visits, Ms. Mitchell slept in Ms. Silver's safe room, which doubled as an extra bedroom. That is where Ms. Silver was sheltering during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. That is where her remains were found and identified five weeks later – ending the belief/hope/fear that she had been taken hostage. Her house had been set on fire. Her bones were too damaged to be tested for DNA, but one matched an image of Ms. Silver's jaw in an old CT scan, the New York Times reported. She was 74. The irony was hard to miss: the peace activist killed in such a brutal campaign. But that is not how Ms. Silver would want to be remembered; this absurd, bitter paradox. Nor, God forbid, would she have wanted her death to be cited in a campaign for revenge. Even in a radio interview from her safe room on Oct. 7, she said the attack demonstrated the urgent need for a peace deal. Ms. Silver would want her legacy to carry on – her fight for peace. Her friends and family are using their grief to propel this work. Ms. Mitchell helped establish Women Wage Peace in Canada. On Wednesday in Toronto, the group will host 'In her voice: The Vivian Silver legacy event.' This is not a memorial, but an event to honour her vision. It will also raise funds for the new Vivian Silver Impact Award, given annually to a Palestinian and an Israeli. Ms. Silver's sons, Yonatan and Chen, will speak. The co-hosts are two young Canadian women – one Jewish, one Palestinian. Those attending are asked to wear a turquoise scarf, as Ms. Silver did. 'It's unbelievable to think that Vivian and her home in Be'eri and much of Gaza no longer exist,' Ms. Mitchell told me on Tuesday, the day before the event. 'But let's hope at least, that the possibility for peace still exists, in spite of all that has been lost.' Family, friends of missing Canadian in Israel recount harrowing last text messages What would Vivian do? I've seen this question more than once in reports about Ms. Silver. I've been wondering lately: what would Vivian think? Of all that has happened since she was forced from this life with such brutality; of the destruction of Gaza; of the fact that hostages are still being held in captivity. And, in the U.S., where she also once lived, of Jews being killed and firebombed. 'I think she would say just don't give up; you can't ever give up,' says Ms. Mitchell. 'You just have to keep doing what you're doing.' Shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks, I was approached by someone who suggested it was a hard time to be a peacenik. I disagreed then, and, in spite of it all, I still do. Ms. Silver's death should not be used to justify more violence, but to fight for peace. Even if it feels impossible right now.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-06-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Women's group fights for peace after 77 years of war
Esther Blum doesn't know how peace is going to happen between Israel and Palestine. But, she said, 'We gave war a chance for 77 years. Maybe now is the time to give peace the same amount of time.' Blum, a member of the Winnipeg chapter of Women Wage Peace, made that comment to a group of about 25 Jewish seniors at the Remis Luncheon at the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre on Thursday. JOHN LONGHURST / FREE PRESS Esther Blum, a member of Women Wage Peace, speaks to a group of about 25 Jewish seniors at the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre on Thursday. 'Maybe peace (in the region) won't come in our lifetimes,' Blum went on to say, noting Israel has often been in conflict with its neighbours and Palestinians inside the country since its founding in 1948. 'Maybe it will take 77 years. But we have to work towards something,' she said. Blum, a retired professor of social work at the University of Manitoba, is one of about 50 local women who are part of the Winnipeg chapter of Women Wage Peace. The organization was founded in Israel in 2014 by Vivian Silver, the Winnipeg-born and raised peace activist who was murdered in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Today, Women Wage Peace is Israel's largest grassroots peace movement, composed of women from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. It also has chapters in Canada, Australia, Europe and South America. The Winnipeg chapter started in 2024 and has about 80 members, with 15 to 20 women meeting monthly to talk about the situation in the Middle East and to learn listening skills. A goal of the group is to create opportunities for Jewish and Palestinian women to talk with each other. 'But everyone is still hurting too much over the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the war in Gaza,' Blum said. 'But we are still hoping we can do it.' Right now, members of the group are reaching out to the local Muslim community. 'It takes time for us to learn how to listen from the heart,' Blum said. 'But little by little, we are making progress.' As a symbol of their desire to bring Jewish and Palestinian women together, members of Women Wage Peace in Winnipeg wear turquoise scarves that combine the blue of the Israeli flag with the green of the Palestinian flag. Blum said the media is quick to cover the violence in the region but pays almost no attention to peace initiatives such as the People's Peace Summit in Israel early last month. The summit, titled It's Time, brought together more than 7,000 people from 60 peace-building organizations. The goal was to talk about ways to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a political agreement to promote self-determination and security for all. Blum said she supports Israel's right to exist as a state. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'But that doesn't mean Palestinians can't have their own state,' she said. Blum added that the current Israeli government is not popular with a majority of Israel's citizens, with 73 per cent telling an Israel Democracy Institute poll earlier this year they believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resign. The next election in Israel for the Knesset, the nation's parliament, is in October 2026. 'Then, the people (in Israel) will have their say,' Blum said. faith@ The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER John LonghurstFaith reporter John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
