Israeli Activist for Peace Vivian Silver Honored at the Garden of Righteous in Milan
Vivian Silver devoted her life to fostering dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. She was an activist for peace and women’s rights. She believed in the two peoples cohabiting. On October 7, 2023, her dream was shattered in the Be’eri kibbutz in southern Israel. When Hamas attacked communities bordering Gaza, her home was burned down, and she was murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
On March 3, she was honored at the Garden of the Righteous Worldwide in Milan during the Day of the Righteous of Humanity, which was dedicated to dialogue and nonviolence this year.
During the ceremony, new Righteous were honored for defending freedom and human dignity at different times and in different contexts. Among them were: Piero Calamandrei, an anti-fascist and one of the founding fathers of the Italian Constitution; Martin Luther King, a global symbol of nonviolence and civil rights; Reem Al-Hajajreh, a Palestinian activist and founder of the Women of the Sun organization; and Aleksandra “Sasha” Skochilenko, a Russian artist who was arrested for protesting the war in Ukraine and released in 2024.
Gabriele Nissim, president of the Gariwo Foundation, which has promoted over 300 Gardens worldwide, recalled the commemoration’s profound meaning: “The Day of the Righteous does not create barriers, nor is it one-sided. Rather, it unites people in the aspiration of goodness, truth, and kindness in everyday behavior.”
Giorgio Mortara, a representative of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities in the Garden of the Righteous Worldwide association, pointed out that the current crisis of international law is intertwined with the crisis of democracy and the difficulty of maintaining spaces for dialogue in contemporary societies. Quoting Calamandrei, Mortara recalled that “freedom is not asked for, it is taken,” which he did not mean as a call for violence, but rather as an encouragement for individual responsibility and participation in public life. He then remembered his own father, Eugenio Mortara, a member of the Italian Action Party, a prominent Italian liberal-socialist, anti-fascist party active between 1942 and 1947. “Like many of those who fight for freedom, he understood democracy as the practice of duty,” Mortara said.
Finally, Mortara focused on the connection between the Hebrew words “ach” (fratello), “acher” (altro), and “achraiut” (responsabilità) in the Jewish tradition. “These three words share the same linguistic root. This means that we are responsible for one another, whether they are our brothers or different from us. At the same time, the other should feel responsible for us. Only then can the rules of civil coexistence become a reality.” The ceremony was also attended by Elena Buscemi, the President of the Milan City Council.
(Foto Gariwo)
Translated by Elizabeth El Khoury and revised by Caterina Mansani, students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, trainees in the newsroom of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities – Pagine Ebraiche.