Canadian peace activist confirmed killed in Oct. 7 Hamas attack

A Canadian peace activist believed to have been taken hostage during the Hamas attack in Israel five weeks ago is dead, her son says.

Vivian Silver’s son Chen Zeigen says Israeli authorities told him the remains of the 74-year-old woman had earlier been found in the kibbutz where she lived but were only identified now. 

Zeigen told reporters in Ottawa last month that his mother was born in Winnipeg and moved to Israel in 1974.

He said she dedicated her life to peacebuilding and fostering understanding between Israelis and Palestinians.

Silver also volunteered to help children in Gaza access medical care in Israel. 

Global Affairs Canada says officials are in contact with Silver’s Canadian family members and are providing assistance.

“It is with deep sadness that the Government of Canada has learned that Canadian-Israeli citizen Vivian Silver is deceased,” Global Affairs said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this difficult time.”

BACKGROUND: Canadian-Israeli activist believed to be taken hostage by Hamas

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The department previously confirmed six Canadian citizens died in the Oct. 7 attack, as well as a seventh person with deep ties to Canada, who was not a citizen.

“Indeed we can confirm her body was identified,” a spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa wrote late Monday.

Israel’s consul general in Toronto, Idit Shamir, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Silver has been confirmed dead.

Women Wage Peace, an organization Silver worked with, also posted about her death on X.

Silver’s home on Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza border was raided by Hamas militants as part of the attack, which Israel’s Foreign Ministry said killed roughly 1,200 people.

Silver’s son Yonatan Zeigen told reporters last month he had received information that she was taken hostage in Gaza and her phone was geolocated in Gaza.

He recounted last month during a Zoom news conference organized by the Jerusalem Press Club a phone call with his mother the day of the attack.

He said he and his mother had heard news of an incursion by Hamas into Israel from the Gaza Strip. They were joking around on the phone until confusion set in.

“We thought the next minute, it’s going to end — but it didn’t,” he said.

“We couldn’t grasp the incapability of the Israeli army to defend the civilians … we started to say goodbye because we realized this is probably our last words to each other.”

He said the two shifted their conversations to text messages to allow her to stay silent, and someone broke into her home. They said they loved one another before the messages stopped coming.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly called Silver a “proud Israeli Canadian and lifelong advocate for peace.”

“I met her son in Tel Aviv, and he described her as kind, generous, and selfless,” Joly wrote on X. “Canada mourns her loss with him and her loved ones.”

Winnipeg’s Jewish community mourning

The Jewish community is mourning the loss of Winnipeg-born peace activist Vivian Silver who was killed following Hamas’ initial attacks on Israel in October.

Lynne Mitchell, a life-long close friend of Vivian Silver says it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions for the peace advocate’s loved ones since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

“People will remember her, among many things, for her beautiful smile, her optimism, her humanitarianism. She was an extremely non-violent person,” said Mitchell. “Vivian was a product of Winnipeg.”

First fearing the worst after the initial attacks, but then having a bit of hope, with Silver’s body not immediately found.

It was first believed Silver was kidnapped by Hamas, but Israel’s Consular General in Toronto confirmed the worst on Monday, that Silver was killed.

“Now we are out of the vortex of hope and we are dealing with the reality of her loss.”

Mitchell met Silver when she was 15 at a youth group with both of them living in Winnipeg’s North End.

“Growing up in Winnipeg back in the 60s there wasn’t a lot to do when you are a teenager. There weren’t malls, it was cold. We were constantly looking for things to do, you were either looking for good things to do or bad things to do. So, we looked for good things to do,” explained Mitchell.

While Silver eventually made the move to Israel, the two stayed in touch, keeping strong their 60-year friendship, with Mitchell even visiting Silver in Israel back in May of this year.

“We have memories of the Kibbutz, of her and of her home, just from May. It’s just a surreal juxtaposition of where we stand right now with the realities of how the world has changed,” said Mitchell.

Jeff Lieberman is the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. He says while the Jewish community in Winnipeg is mourning the loss of Silver, they’re also coming together to share stories about how the advocate has touched them.

“I heard a story this morning about how she would help Palestinian families take their children to either doctor’s appointments or to the hospitals to help them out. She was there to be a peacekeeper,” said Lieberman.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew also shared his condolences for the death of Silver on the social media platform X. Writing “Her memory and her pursuit of peace is a bright light we will carry in our hearts during these dark times.”

I’m saddened to learn of the murder of Vivian Silver by Hamas.
My thoughts are with her family and our community here in Manitoba and in Israel.
Her memory and her pursuit of peace is a bright light we will carry in our hearts during these dark times.

— Wab Kinew (@WabKinew) November 14, 2023

For Silver’s loved ones like Mitchell, she believes her death will not be in vain.

“She has sown the seeds for non-violence,” said Mitchell. “We have to make some sense out of the way she died by hoping that the vision that she shared with those that she worked with will somehow, someday end up bringing peace for the region she ended up trying to live in.”