As part of an Islam and Middle East Awareness Week at Bates College, Forsan Hussein, an expert on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, will give a talk on the conflict and discuss alternatives for the peace process at 8 p.m., Thursday, March 30, in Room 204 of Carnegie Science, 44 Campus Ave., Bates College.  The public is invited to attend the talk, sponsored by Mushahada and the recently established Bates College Middle East Peace Alliance, at no charge.

Hussein is a communications associate at The Abraham Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jewish citizens of Israel. Forsan is a Palestinian Arab who was born and raised in Sha’ab village in the Galilee in Israel. He attended Brandeis University after receiving the Slifka Coexistence Scholarship, a full scholarship awarded to one Palestinian-Israeli and one Jewish-Israeli committed to the goals of peaceful coexistence between the two people. At Brandeis, Forsan created his own major, “peacebuilding.”

Mushahada (the Bates College Muslim Student Association) was created to bring together the Muslim students of Bates and help them in their practice of Islam. The club organizes religious events for the Muslim community at Bates which are open to the whole campus. Mushahada sponsors speakers and organizes educational and social activities involving both Muslims and non-Muslims to promote greater awareness of the Islamic faith and traditions.