​Wendy Kahn visits home of murdered friend Vivian Silver

It is 18 months since Hamas brutally murdered my friend Vivian Silver in her home in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, 2023.

I travelled to her home last month to pay tribute to her. For over a decade I worked with Vivian where she trained hundreds of South African government and civil society leaders in community development, agricultural development and cooperatives at NISPED and at her beloved Be'eri. As a founder of Women Wage Peace we brought a group of Muslim, Jewish and Christian women to SA in 2019 to engage with government, media and civil society. Vivian's dedication to peace building and human rights saw her driving cancer patients from Gaza to Israeli hospitals.

I brought beaded sunflowers🌻 made by Banks who has been painting and beading yellow ribbons to raise awareness of the hostage crisis on the side of a Street in Johannesburg. Together with my tribute card I lay them at her doorstep of her burned house. Vivian's legacy continues to be felt in Israel, globally and in the tip of Africa. You are missed Vivian Silver.

Wendy Kahn

Recent Articles

SAJBD Responds to DIRCO's Abandonment of South Africans stuck in Israel

The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) on Sunday issued a travel advisory urging South African citizens in Iran to exercise caution and register with the South African Embassy in Tehran. It is outrageous that DIRCO did not offer similar assistance or services to its citizens in Israel. With the Advisory the Government and DIRCO have clearly shown disinterest and abandoned the many South Africans, be they Christian, Jewish or Muslim who are stranded in Israel. The Government's stance on this current situation confirms once again its lack of concern for not only the citizens of Israel, but its own citizens in Israel.

​DIRCO supports terror regime once again

DIRCO supports terror regime once again

South Africa’s expression of concern and condolences for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran serves once again to show their decision to always side with dictators, terror organisations and human-rights abusers. DIRCO supported the Assad regime in Syria, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir in Sudan, Sadam Hussein in Iraq, Hamas in Gaza and now Ali Hosseini Khamenei in Iran. All these dictators have a strong history of oppressing their own people and exporting terror.