Ben Affleck has confirmed that his late mother Chris Affleck was an ardent campaigner for Palestinian rights, calling it “the central cause of her life” in a private message that surfaced online.
Chris Affleck died on June 2 at the age of 83, with her family announcing the news on July 24. According to an international media outlet, she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December and was given six months to live. Her death certificate, obtained by a media outlet, stated that she died from cardiopulmonary arrest while visiting her son’s residence.
The message was shared privately with Palestinian writer Mosab Abu Toha, who reached out to the actor to offer condolences after learning of his mother’s death. Abu Toha later posted the exchange on Instagram.
Affleck told Abu Toha “It’s a great pleasure to hear from you. You meant a great deal to mom. I very much appreciate the kind words and want to reaffirm that the central cause of her life and the most meaningful cause of distress to her was the suffering and injustice caused to the Palestinian people.”
He added “I know it would have meant a great deal to her that you reached out, and I also know she would have wished no further heartbreak on you, and wished you only love and support. Thank you for writing. It means a great deal to me.”
Abu Toha, who received the Pulitzer Prize last year for his essays on Gaza published in The New Yorker, called Chris Affleck “my dear, dear friend” in his tribute. He noted that she became close to his family while he, his wife Maram and their children lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts between 2019 and 2020.
He wrote “Chris was far more than a friend. She was like a mother to me and Maram, and a grandmother to our children.”
Abu Toha recalled that Chris took his children to the museum, assisted Maram while she was learning English and brought meals to the family after the birth of their son in 2020.
He also pointed out that while most people knew Chris only as the mother of Ben and Casey Affleck, few were aware that she had become “one of the most steadfast advocates for Palestine.”
He mentioned that she once arrived at their home during the Covid-19 pandemic with a Free Gaza poster displayed on her car and continued attending his readings whenever he visited Cambridge or Boston.
Abu Toha shared a message Chris had sent him on October 13, 2023, days after Israel’s assault on Gaza began. In it she expressed worry over his family’s safety and mentioned that she and her friends were lobbying US lawmakers for a ceasefire.
She had written “My friends and I are trying to speak up for Gaza and to write our people in Congress … to advocate for a ceasefire. We want to help. We care about you. And I care, not only about all of Gaza, but also specifically about you, Maram, Yassan, Yaffa and the baby.”
The two last saw each other at one of Abu Toha’s readings at Harvard in February 2025, where he gifted her a necklace and ring embroidered by his sister in law in Gaza. He said that Chris put them on right away.
He closed his tribute by writing “We will miss you dearly, Chris. Thank you for your kindness, your generosity and your unwavering solidarity.”
Chris Affleck taught at the elementary level for close to four decades before retiring in 2008. Along with raising her sons Ben and Casey, she took part in the Freedom Summer literacy campaign during the civil rights era, protested against the Vietnam War, campaigned for Barack Obama and worked with the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine following a 2009 visit to the country.
Affleck himself has spoken out for a Gaza ceasefire in the past. In October 2023 he was among a large group of actors and musicians who signed a letter organised by Artists4Ceasefire urging then President Joe Biden and Congress to push for an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages and delivery of aid to civilians in Gaza.
