Canadian-Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver, left, is one of the more than 220 hostages violently kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas.Supplied
Yonah Diamond is an international human rights lawyer at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR). Irwin Cotler is RWCHR chair and former justice minister and attorney-general of Canada.
Just three days before Hamas massacred men, women and children in their homes and at a music festival, thousands of Israeli and Palestinian women were marching arm-in-arm through the streets of Jerusalem in the largest demonstration for peace in recent memory. The Israeli and Palestinian groups, Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun, partnered to promote their “Mothers’ Call” – a joint formulation for a solution to the conflict “determined to stop the vicious cycle of bloodshed … for the benefit of our children.” This was not only a display of slogans and solidarity. The event marked tangible progress by bringing together high-level and influential diplomats from Europe, the U.S., and Middle East. Palestinian and Israeli representatives not only spoke of an eventual resolution; they even enacted the process by symbolically gathering around a negotiation table.
No one could have predicted the utter destruction of these hopes just three days later. Among the more than 220 hostages violently kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas is 74-year-old Canadian-Israeli and lifelong peace activist Vivian Silver, one of the organizers of the mothers’ march on Jerusalem, who was kidnapped during the devastating attack that left her Kibbutz Be’eri in ruins, where 10 per cent of their members were murdered in unspeakable atrocities. In a cruel reversal of the Mothers’ Call, the mother of Israel’s modern peace movement was taken captive, and her children and grandchildren now find themselves advocating for her future.
For Vivian, peace has never been an abstract idea. When she saw inequality around her, she actively built bridges and trust by connecting Arab and Jewish women to engage in joint business ventures. The pursuit of peace was a daily all-encompassing struggle requiring creative initiative; it was something to be fought for on a political, grassroots, and personal level. Women Wage Peace, the name of the movement she founded in response to the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, reflected this core belief – a group that has grown into the largest grassroots peace movement in Israel today, comprising nearly 50,000 members. She was a founding member of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, now a coalition of more than 170 organizations building peaceful co-existence among their communities. In 1999, she co-founded the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, advancing education and economic development for Arab communities in Israel. Before 2005, she regularly travelled to Gaza to meet with Palestinian activists. One of us also worked closely with Vivian over the years and knows of her enormous contribution to the cause of peace and humanitarianism. Even in retirement, she remained active in Women Wage Peace and Road to Recovery, a volunteer organization that drives Palestinians in need of medical treatment from Gaza to hospitals in Israel.
The Oct. 7 massacres and ensuing conflagration have redirected global attention to the Arab-Israeli conflict and reopened deep wounds across Jewish and Palestinian communities like no other time in modern history. In this moment of unprecedented polarization, there is a risk that well-meaning people might refrain from taking action, preferring to remain “neutral”– the path of least resistance. Instead, everyone should agree that seeking the release of the hostages is the one cause that can garner unanimous support across the political spectrum. Movements around the world should band behind this purely moral and humanitarian cause, for the sake of every victim and the safety of Palestinians and Israelis alike. The release of the hostages is also a cause that benefits from the broadest multilateral support, particularly for countries with a direct stake in the matter, where the murdered and missing come from 30 different countries. Regardless of one’s sympathies, policy-makers and anyone with a platform should centre the return of the hostages as a key first step toward a just resolution.
While Vivian is silenced, her example should be our guide – the courage to engage in the real work necessary for co-existence. Vivian would have been at the forefront of the campaign to free the hostages. We should be there for her. Vivian stands for everything that a feminist foreign policy should deliver, one that places people, peace, and the planet above violence. There is no clearer path toward peace than seeing the Canadian who embodies these principles, along with all the hostages, released.