(Posted October 21, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Guy Grossman, a teaching assistant at Tel Aviv University law School and a former Israeli soldier, will speak at Juniata College on the "Courage to Refuse" at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21 in the lounge of the Tussey-Terrace Residence Halls on the Juniata campus.

The event is free and open to the public. The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies is sponsoring the lecture.

Grossman was the 11th Israeli reserve officer to join the group "Ometz Le'sarev ("Courage to Refuse"), which declares that Israel should not fight beyond its 1967 borders.

Grossman, a native of Ra'anana, near Tel-Aviv, began his military service in the Israeli Army in 1990. He joined a paratroopers unit specializing in anti-tank combat. In 1992 he was one of six selected to continue to the officers' course, and attained the rank of lieutenant. He spent 18 months in the Occupied Territories during the first Intifada and 3 months in Lebanon.

He left the army in 1994, but remains a reserve officer, serving up to 8 weeks a year. Grossman went on to earn a law degree from Tel Aviv University. While in law school, he volunteered with B'tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. He co-authored a report on the use of excessive violence and torture against Palestinian prisoners.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.