Safa Abu-Rabia and Hannah Safran, two feminist peace activists working in Israel, offer a pair of lectures Monday, Oct. 11, in Chase Hall, Campus Avenue, Bates College. Titled "Israeli-Palestinian Peacework: Two Women's Story," the afternoon lecture at 4:30 p.m. in Skelton Lounge is part of "Spiritual Journeys: Stories of the Soul 2004-05."

The evening lecture, "The Challenge of Feminist Peacework in Israel and Palestine," begins at 8 p.m. in Chase Hall Lounge. The public is invited free of charge to attend both presentations and may call 207-786-8272 for more information.

These events are co-sponsored by the chaplain's office, Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the Multicultural Center, Mushahada Association, New World Coalition, the political science department, the Women's Resource Center and the program in women and gender studies.

An Arab-Palestinian feminist and peace activist with the Coexistence Forum for Arabs and Jews and with the New Israel Fund's Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change Organizations in Israel, Abu-Rabia coordinates the Bedouin Women's Empowerment Program that reaches out to Bedouin women and raises their awareness about their rights. "I believe that living in a reality of conflict does not excuse me from my responsibility and duty towards my society," Abu Rabia says.

Safran is an Israeli peace activist with Women in Black, a weekly peace vigil that opposes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Co-founder of the Coalition of Women for Just Peace, she coordinates the Haifa Feminist Center and the women's studies program at the University of Haifa.

The women's tour is organized by Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, a network of university faculty promoting peace in the Middle East.