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Vivian Silver, veteran Canadian-Israeli peace activist, declared dead in Hamas massacre
(JTA) — Vivian Silver, a Canadian-Israeli peace activist who had been presumed kidnapped by Hamas, was declared dead after her remains were found at her home.
Her death was confirmed to JTA by multiple activists who said they were in touch with Silver’s family. Shifra Bronznick, a prominent Jewish social justice activist and lifelong friend of Silver’s, learned from Silver’s son that her remains were identified via her DNA.
“Vivian was always persistent in the pursuit of peace and justice,” Bronznick told JTA on Monday evening. “She was a lifelong feminist, a committed activist, a fearless leader, an exceptional friend and a loving mother, wife and grandmother.”
Until Monday, Silver, 74, was assumed to be among the more than 200 people held captive by Hamas. She is now among the approximately 1,200 people murdered by the terror group in its Oct. 7 attack. Hamas terrorists killed more than 100 people at Silver’s home community, Kibbutz Be’eri, in one of the day’s worst massacres.
She is one of several peace activists to have been killed or captured by Hamas on Oct. 7. Hayim Katsman, 32, who worked with Palestinians in the southern West Bank, was killed in his home in another community on the Gaza border. Yocheved Lifschitz, who helped ferry Palestinians from Gaza to medical care in Israel, was taken captive by Hamas and released in late October; her husband Oded, also involved in peace work, remains missing.
“A woman of infinite, deep, ongoing compassion, humanity and dedication to Arab-Jewish partnership and peace. Yes. Peace,” Anat Saragusti, an Israeli writer and feminist activist, wrote on social media in a post announcing Silver’s death. John Lyndon, the executive director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, wrote that “she wanted to be free & at peace. Rest in power, Vivian.”
Silver’s sons, like the family members of many of those presumed hostage, lobbied extensively for her release, traveling the country and speaking to journalists around the world to call attention to her story. One son, Yonatan Zeigen, stood out for his calls for a ceasefire, an unusual position in Israel. He said he had learned from his mother to seek peace above all else.
“I would tell her, ‘Israel is dead. It’s hopeless,’ and she would say, ‘Peace could come tomorrow,’” Yonatan, a social worker in Tel Aviv told the Washington Post in a story published last week.
Chen Zeigen, her other son, is a doctoral student in archaeology at the University of Connecticut. She is also survived by four grandchildren.
On the day of the massacre, according to the Washington Post story, Silver took a call with a radio station where she pushed back against the idea that the Palestinians were “insane.” In messages with Yonatan, she expressed fear, frustration and love. “I’m with you,” he wrote to her. Her last message back to him was, “I feel you.”
Born in Winnipeg, Canada, she was the longtime director of the Arab Jewish Center For Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation, which organized projects joining communities in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 2014, after the last major war between Israel and Hamas, she helped found Women Wage Peace, which promotes peace-building actions among women from all communities and across the political spectrum.
Speaking to Forbes in 2021 for a series on women who assist the vulnerable, Silver said she remembered feeling relief after the government built bomb shelters in Kibbutz Be’eri, which had been subject to rocket fire from Gaza for more than a decade.
“In 2009, the [Israeli] government only built shelters for communities that were four kilometers from the border. The community I live in is four and a half kilometers from the border, so we didn’t have shelters then,” Silver told Forbes. “Now we do, so psychologically we feel better, and we feel safer, and in fact, we are safer, we’re a lot safer than the people in Gaza.”
At a 2018 Women Wage Peace event on the Gaza border in 2018, she said that the Israeli government needed to change its approach in order to bring peace to the area. “Show the required courage that will bring changes of policy that will bring us quiet and security,” she said then, addressing the government. “Returning to the routine is not an option.”
Appealing to women across the border, she said, “Terror does not make anything better for anyone, you too deserve quiet and peace.”
Bronznick first met Silver in the early 1970s when both were involved in organizing a national conference of Jewish women. They remained friends and, for a period of six years, took an annual trip together — the last one was to Santa Fe, New Mexico. When Silver would stay at Bronznick’s home, she would prepare an Israeli breakfast, Bronznick recalled.
“She would be passionately advocating for peace right now,” Bronznick said, referring to Israel’s war against Hamas, launched following the Oct. 7 attack. “She never gave up on bridge-building. She never gave up on making change. She never gave up on people… She always focused on people, children, what motivated them, what meant something to them.”
Before Oct. 7, Silver was due for another stay at Bronznick’s home in New York City in early December. On top of each of the days in Bronznick’s calendar, she had written “Viv.”
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The post Vivian Silver, veteran Canadian-Israeli peace activist, declared dead in Hamas massacre appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Chabad rabbi murdered in the UAE, remembered by close friend with roots in Montreal
Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Chabad rabbi who was murdered in the United Arab Emirates last week, was a gregarious and kind person who had an infectious smile, recalled Rabbi Yehuda […]
The post Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Chabad rabbi murdered in the UAE, remembered by close friend with roots in Montreal appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Israel Will Show ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Lebanon Ceasefire Violations, Defense Chief Tells UN Envoy
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israel will have “zero tolerance” for any breach of a ceasefire deal in Lebanon and is prepared to act “with great force” in response to any such violations, Israel’s defense chief said on Tuesday.
“We will act against any threat, anytime, and anywhere,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN’s special envoy for Lebanon, when meeting her in Tel Aviv, according a statement from his office.
Katz also demanded “effective enforcement” from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the international peacekeeping organization in the country.
“If you don’t do it, we will, and with great force,” he said, according to the Israeli readout.
“Every house in southern Lebanon that is rebuilt and in which a terrorist base is established will be demolished, every rearming and regrouping by terrorists will be attacked, every attempt to smuggle weapons will be thwarted, and every threat to our forces or Israeli citizens will be immediately destroyed,” the Israeli defense chief added in his meeting.
Katz’s comments came hours before Israel’s security cabinet was expected to approve a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Islamist group that wields significant influence across Lebanon.
Hezbollah has been launching barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel from neighboring Lebanon almost daily since Oct. 8 of last year, one day after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of the Jewish state from Gaza to the south.
The relentless attacks from Hezbollah have forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes in the north, and Israel has pledged to ensure their safe return.
Israel had been exchanging fire with Hezbollah but drastically escalated its military operations over the last two months, seeking to push the terrorist army further away from the border with Lebanon.
The US and France have been seeking to broker a ceasefire for months.
Diplomacy has largely focused on restoring and enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for Hezbollah’s withdrawal to north of the Litani River (around 30 km, or 19 miles, from the Israeli border) and the disarmament of its forces in southern Lebanon, with the buffer zone under the jurisdiction of the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.
Israel has insisted on retaining the right to conduct military operations against Hezbollah if the group attempts to rearm or rebuild its infrastructure — a stipulation that has met resistance from Lebanese officials, who argue it infringes on national sovereignty. Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon has said Israel would maintain an ability to strike southern Lebanon under any agreement.
During his meeting with the UN’s special envoy for Lebanon on Tuesday, Katz stressed that the implementation of the ceasefire must include effective enforcement and oversight, including preventing arms smuggling and domestic arms production by Hezbollah.
Retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi — who leads the Israel Defense and Security Forum, a group of former military commanders — recently told The Algemeiner that any deal must include Iran’s “full exit” from Lebanon and Israel’s freedom of action to prevent any future buildup of Hezbollah. Otherwise, he warned, the agreement would be “devastating” for the Jewish state.
Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker, Elias Bou Saab, told Reuters the proposal under discussion would entail an Israeli military withdrawal from south Lebanon and regular Lebanese army troops deploying in the border region, long a Hezbollah stronghold, within 60 days.
He added that a sticking point over who would monitor compliance with the ceasefire was resolved in the last couple days, with an agreement to set up a five-country committee, including France and chaired by the United States.
Nabih Berri, the Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese parliamentary speaker, has been leading the Iran-backed terrorist group’s mediation efforts.
According to reports, Hezbollah will relocate its “heavy weapons” north of the Litani River as part of the expected ceasefire, and Israel has pledged to limit military action against violations by the Iranian proxy to situations where the Lebanese military fails to neutralize the threat, and only after consulting with the US.
In Washington, DC, American officials said on Monday that a truce was close but finalized.
“We don’t believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we’re close to an agreement. We believe that we have narrowed the gaps significantly, but there are still steps that we need to see taken. We hope that we can get there,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a press briefing.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby expressed similar sentiments.
“We’re close,” he told reporters, but “nothing is done until everything is done.”
The post Israel Will Show ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Lebanon Ceasefire Violations, Defense Chief Tells UN Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Across Europe, Australia, and the West, Another Front Has Been Opened in the War Against Jews
Illustrative: Supporters of Hamas gather for a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Reuters/Joel Carrett
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched its latest part of a genocidal war on Israel, terrorizing, massacring, and raping innocent civilians. This attack was part of a broader war, as terror groups like Hezbollah, the Houthis, and militias in Iraq and Syria target the Jewish State — all coordinated by the chief terror architect, Iran. Including the Iranian-funded terror gangs in the West Bank, Israel is now fighting on seven different fronts against enemies committed to its destruction.
But there is an eighth front too — one that extends far beyond the Middle East.
In Amsterdam, Jewish and Israeli soccer fans were violently targeted and attacked in what can only be described as a pogrom.
One day before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, Nazi Germany’s mass pogrom in 1938, in Amsterdam — the same city where Anne Frank hid from Nazi persecution — Jews had to once again hide from mobs seeking to harm them.
This is not normal or acceptable.
While some tried to falsely argue this riot — and so many others like it — are about opposition to Israel, that’s not true. Attacks outside synagogues, and against any Jew — before their view on Israel is even known — proves this targets our religion, not any country or state.
Antisemitism has been on the rise for decades. The October 7 massacre was not fueled primarily by political grievances, but by deep primal hatred — the same hatred driving antisemitism globally today.
Antisemitism is known as the “oldest hatred,” because at any given time in history, Jews have been targeted either for their religion, culture, ethnicity, or beliefs.
Today, this hatred is often expressed by attacking “Zionism”, the belief in Jewish self-determination in their ancestral homeland, Israel. (A homeland that was needed, because people tried to kill Jews everywhere else they have ever lived.)
This hatred of Jews spans the political spectrum. Extremists from the far-left to the far-right, who otherwise oppose each other, unite in their disdain for Jews. For example, white supremacist David Duke has voiced support for anti-Israel protests, citing a shared hatred of “Jewish supremacism.”
This has been made worse by the trend toward weak leadership and moral confusion prevalent in Western democracies, which fails to distinguish between aggressors and their victims.
France, the UK, and Canada have initiated limited arms embargoes on Israel, claiming concern about supposed violations of international humanitarian law. Yet 17% of all France’s arms exports go to Qatar — an actual human rights violator and key sponsor of Hamas.
Meanwhile, the Australian government often claims that it is a steadfast friend of Israel, yet its actions belie that description. It continues to reverse longstanding bipartisan positions by voting in favor of biased and one-sided anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations.
Today, Australia ahistorically labels Gaza, eastern Jerusalem, and the West Bank as “Occupied Palestinian territory,” signaling to the Palestinians that negotiations aren’t necessary and everything they want is theirs by right without any need to compromise.
Australia even doubled its funding to UNRWA, despite UNRWA’s long history of spreading antisemitic propaganda and incitement to violence through its schools, and UNRWA employees’ direct involvement in the October 7 atrocities.
Australia says that Israel must listen to the international community. Yet it was that same international community that facilitated much of the funding that let Hamas turn Gaza into a giant terror base. The international community also allowed Hezbollah to build up a massive rocket arsenal in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, meant to both disarm Hezbollah and keep it well away from Israel’s border.
The current Australian government is suddenly obsessed with trying to force a two-state solution right now, as if this is currently feasible with Hamas controlling Gaza and the corrupt Palestinian Authority having lost control of many of the cities of the West Bank. The message of this obsession is to reward Hamas’ terrorism on October 7, and encourage the Palestinian leadership to continue the rejectionism with which it has met every two-state peace offer Israel has ever made.
The Australian government’s calls on Israel for restraint and ceasefires, as if Israel initiated the October 7 conflict, while demanding comparatively little of Hamas, help fuel the “eighth front” war against the Jews.
When Jews are afraid to walk their own streets, when Jewish students are unable to go to university campuses, when Jews are abused in the streets of Townsville and cars are defaced in Sydney, it is a sign that the social cohesion that Australia likes to boast about has been eroded.
Israel is not above criticism, and criticizing its policies is perfectly legitimate, as it would be to criticize any country. However, such critics cross a line when they apply a double standard to Israel to which no other country is subjected, all while ignoring the unique security challenges it faces.
Western leaders who fail to clearly support democratic partners like Israel embolden those who wish to destroy all of us, and their weakness in confronting domestic manifestations of antisemitism makes Jewish communities worldwide vulnerable to hatred and violence.
Long after the guns fall silent along the seven fronts on which Israel is fighting, the eighth front will continue to rage, fueled by weak leadership that lacks both the wisdom to tell the difference between right and wrong, and the courage to confront the world’s oldest hatred.
Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).
The post Across Europe, Australia, and the West, Another Front Has Been Opened in the War Against Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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