Human Rights and Peace : A Personal Odyssey

Zafra Lerman was precocious as a little girl growing up in Israel. She grew up with deep-seeded values―values so deeply held that they became ingrained in her being. These values led her to dedicate her life to using science diplomacy to fight for peace and for human rights. She also developed a new curriculum, where she taught science through art, music, dance, and drama. This curriculum was successful with underprivileged students around the world.

This book is a genre-busting first-person narrative in which Prof. Lerman recounts her remarkable life―a life that has led her all around the world from the Soviet Union to Peru, from China to Cuba, and beyond where she fought for dissidents who were being denied basic human rights. And, perhaps most importantly, her life has led her to Malta, the first site of the Malta Conferences. After the September 11 attacks on the United States, Prof. Lerman conceived, coordinated, and launched the Malta Conferences―the biennial, international meetings of scientists from all Middle East countries, Nobel laureates, and political leaders―which use science diplomacy as a bridge to peace in the Middle East.

The book is an inspiring call to action showing how the author’s life and work has led to the innovative use of science as diplomacy in the fight for human rights and peace. It is an inspiration to educators, scientists, policymakers, and the general readers. There is no equivalent, competing work.

Zafra Lerman was born in Israel and grew up there as the country struggled to achieve independence from the British mandate. She is a scientist, educator, and human rights activist and has developed an innovative approach of teaching science at all levels using art, music, dance, drama, animation, and rap, which has proven extremely successful with underprivileged students across the globe. She has worked on human rights around the world and brought dissidents to freedom. She always believed in the power of science to encourage social mobility and, on a broader scale, understanding between nations. The pinnacle of her career has been using science as a bridge to peace in the Middle East. She founded the series of "Malta conferences," now in its 20th year, in which scientists from all countries of the Middle East come together with several Nobel laureates for a week to establish understanding and collaboration.