LEWISTON – Safa Abu-Rabia and Hannah Safran, two feminist peace activists working in Israel, will give two lectures at Bates College today in Chase Hall, 56 Campus Ave.

They will give a talk titled “Israeli-Palestinian Peacework: Two Women’s Story” at 4:30 p.m. in Skelton Lounge in Chase Hall. Their afternoon talk is part of the college’s “Spiritual Journeys: Stories of the Soul 2004-05” series.

Their evening lecture, “The Challenge of Feminist Peacework in Israel and Palestine,” begins at 8 p.m. in Chase Hall Lounge.

The public is invited both free presentations. People may call 786-8272 for more information.

Abu-Rabia, 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, coordinates the Bedouin Women’s Empowerment Program.

“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.

Their tour has been organized by Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, a network of university faculty promoting peace in the Middle East.

Their talks at Bates are co-sponsored by the chaplain’s office, the 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.