Vivian Silver, a Canadian-born activist who spent decades working to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, has been confirmed killed after initial reports suggested she had been kidnapped during the 7 October Hamas attacks.
In a statement on Tuesday, Idit Shamir, Toronto’s Israeli consul general, confirmed the 74-year-old had been killed by Hamas during the assault on Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel.
“Our hearts go out to her family and friends,” Shamir said. “May her memory be a blessing.
Mélanie Joly, the minister of foreign affairs, praised Silver as a “lifelong advocate for peace” adding in a statement that family described the widow and grandmother of four as “kind, generous, and selfless”.
Silver’s family and Israeli officials initially believed she had been taken hostage and was being held in Gaza, but her family was notified of her death on Monday.
“On the one hand, she was small and fragile. Very sensitive,” her son Yonatan Zeigen told Israel Radio on Tuesday. “On the other hand, she was a force of nature. She had a giant spirit. She was very assertive. She had very strong core beliefs about the world and life.”
Silver, who was born in Winnipeg, immigrated to Israel in the 1974 and spent decades working for peace in the region. She co-founded Women Wage Peace in 2014, working on humanitarian projects in Gaza and the West Bank. She also served on the board of directors for B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization.
“We cannot go on without a political horizon,” she said at a Women Wage Peace rally. “We cannot accept operations and acts of war that bring only death, destruction and pain, and inflict mental and physical harm, as a daily occurrence. We call upon our sisters in Gaza: join us and call upon your leaders, enough. Terror benefits no one. You, too, deserve peace and security.”
During the 7 October attack, Silver communicated with members of Women Wage Peace, telling them militants had entered her home and that she was hiding in a safe room.
Her home was burned, but her remains were not initially found, leading officials to surmise she was one of more than 200 hostages taken by the militant group into Gaza.
The scale and ferocity of the attack has complicated the task of identifying remains, turning the process into an agonizing wait for families with relatives still missing.
In a Tuesday post, Women Wage Peace paid tribute to their founding member.
“Vivian, in your wisdom and refined sense of humor, you were our role model and brave leader to peace. (A role model, our pillar of fire.) We will not rest until we achieve the goal to which you dedicated your life’s work. In your life, and in your death, you bequeath us peace.”
