Avraham Burg, former speaker and current member of Israel's model of parliament, is coming to ASU at 6:30 p.m. and will be speaking in the Memorial Union's Arizona Ballroom.
Burg will speak on "Struggling Toward Peace in Times of Terror" at tonight's event, which is free and open to the public.
John Ronquillo, coordinator of the event and vice president of programming and activities for the Associated Students of ASU, said he decided to bring Burg to campus because he knew the speaker would be engaging.
"His topic is a timely subject, and he is by far one of the biggest advocates for world peace," Ronquillo said.
Ronquillo added that he knew how difficult it is to get students to attend these types of events, but that he hoped most would make the time to attend Burg's speech.
"I think Israel is one of those geographical places that people just don't care about," Ronquillo said. "Hopefully this speaker will bring awareness that other countries are taking efforts to spread peace."
He added that this is a great opportunity for students to have a speaker like Burg and that ASU is the only place in the western United States he is visiting during his stay.
According to a statement from ASU, Burg's continuous efforts and leadership in Israel had "placed an emphasis on the importance of Jewish education, identity and protecting vulnerable populations."
The statement also said Burg was a dedicated advocate for the separation of politics and religion of Israel, as well as for tolerance in the Israeli society.
Burg is one of the senior members of the Israeli Labor Party; he was the Executive Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel in 1995. During that time, he dealt with immigration of Jews to Israel and was an important figure in the restructuring of the JAFI agency.
Journalism sophomore Eliseo Rodriguez said he planned to attend the event because he felt Burg's speech would be important for many reasons.
"Most of the University isn't aware of the recent issues in the Middle East, and this way students can be informed properly by somebody that has a political affiliation with Israel," Rodriguez said.
He added that Burg would provide insight to students who attend and would give them a different aspect of Israel and its present conditions.
"His subject, peace, is very essential to the Middle East because it is presently the most conflicted part of the world, and this is why peace is the main dialogue for politics," Rodriguez said.
Reach the reporter at pamela.j.coffman@asu.edu.
