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CORVALLIS - Three Israeli university students, who formerly served in the military and remain reservists, will discuss their experiences living in Israel under the threat of terror in an open public session on Wednesday, April 2, at Oregon State University.

The event begins at noon in the Joyce Goudy Powell Learning Center in the Memorial Union. OSU Hillel is sponsoring the free public event as part of its "Our Viewpoint" forum series, with support from the Jewish Federation of Portland.

An independent group called Israel@Heart, which is seeking to provide a better understanding of Israeli culture through student ambassadors, is organizing the presentation. The three students visiting Oregon are part of a group touring nationally.

Shirin Ezekiel, Chanan Fogel and Nadav Shuruk are the three student ambassadors who will visit OSU and other locations around Oregon.

Ezekiel, 27, is enrolled as a master's student in communication and political science at Bar Ilan University in Israel. She served in the army from 1993-95, and since has worked with numerous youth, student and education groups; she has served as an assistant in Knesset, the Israeli Parliament House; and she has acted as spokesperson for the Isreali delegation to the United Nations Conference against Racism.

Fogel, 24, was born in South Africa and later lived in Vancouver, B.C., before his family moved to Israel. He served in the army for more than three years at the Coordination and Administration Liaison to the Gaza strip. As part of his duties, he learned Arabic and worked with Palestinians living in the Gaza strip, as well as with Palestinian Authority officials on peace issues. He is now studying for a degree in computer science at Sapir Academic College.

Shuruk, 26, is nearing completion of a finance degree at the interdisciplinary center in Herzeliya. He joined the army in 1995 and became a tank commander after one year. He later became an officer and then an instructor in officer training, before joining a combat battalion serving in Lebanon and the occupied territories. Since finishing his army service in 1999, Shuruk has worked as a hotel security officer; with a company that designs robots that disarm bombs; and begun his own catering business.