'You can't heal in a perpetual war': Israeli peace activist Yonatan Zeigen on following in his mother's footsteps

In this poignant episode of the Haaretz Podcast, host Alison Kaplan-Summer speaks with Yonatan Zeigen, son of Canadian-Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver, who was brutally killed during the October 7th Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri. Zeigen, once disengaged from activism during what he calls his 'political coma,' was galvanized into full-time peace work after his mother’s death. He discusses the alternative Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony co-founded by Combatants for Peace and the Parent Circle Families Forum—a space for shared mourning and a rejection of the state’s official narrative that frames bereavement solely through militarized nationalism. Zeigen argues that grief cannot be healed in a perpetual war, and that true solidarity lies not in national unity but in moral alignment with those who seek peace, mutuality, and justice. He reflects on the emotional toll of living in a society that normalizes violence, the isolation of being a peace advocate in a polarized environment, and the enduring legacy of his mother’s life dedicated to cross-border collaboration and social justice. Despite the overwhelming scale of conflict, Zeigen holds fast to a vision of coexistence rooted in empathy, shared pain, and collective responsibility.