Quick Facts
Biography
Rula Jebreal (Arabic: رولا جبرايل, Hebrew: רולא ג'בריל; born April 24, 1973) is a Palestinian foreign policy analyst, journalist, novelist and screenwriter with dual Israeli and Italian citizenship. She was a commentator for MSNBC.
Early life and education
Jebreal was born in Haifa, Israel, to Othman Jebreal and Zakia, and grew up in Jerusalem. Her father was an imam and groundskeeper at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Her mother, who suffered from severe abuse in her childhood, committed suicide by walking into the sea when Jebreal was 5. She and her sister Rania were put into the Dar El-Tifel orphanage by their father, in 1978, until 1991. She was raised in the orphanage, and regards its founder, e Hind Husseini, as her teacher and mother, crediting her with saving her life.
In 1993 she received a scholarship from the Italian government to study medicine at the University of Bologna, where she graduated with a degree in physiotherapy.
Career
Journalism
Jebreal worked as a journalist in Italy for twelve years. In 2006 she worked with Michele Santoro as an interviewer on AnnoZero, a political television show in Italy.
Books and films
Jebreal wrote her first novel Miral in 2003. It was eventually made into a film that was directed by Julian Schnabel, from Jebreal's screenplay.
Jebreal's second novel The Bride of Aswan was published in 2007. Her third book, Rejected, is a non-fiction study based on interviews with immigrants who have either made their way to successful careers in Italy or otherwise live on the margins of Italian society.
Personal life
She has a daughter whose father is an Italian artist.
She was in a relationship with American artist Julian Schnabel from 2007 to 2011. In 2013, she married Arthur Altschul, Jr., son of banker Arthur Altschul and member of the Lehman family. The couple divorced in 2016 after she had an affair with Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.
She is fluent in four languages: Italian, English, Arabic and Hebrew. She describes herself as a "secular Muslim".
Works
- La strada dei fiori di Miral, BUR Biblioteca Univ. Rizzoli, 2005, ISBN 978-88-17-00850-1
- Ørkenblomsten, Engelstad forl., 2005, ISBN 978-82-92533-10-9
- Miral – Ein Land. Drei Frauen. Ein gemeinsamer Traum, Translated Leon Mengden, Btb, 2010, ISBN 978-3-442-74148-9
- La sposa di Assuan, (Bride of Aswan) Rizzoli, 2005, ISBN 978-88-17-00867-9
- La promise d'Assouan, Translated Lucie Comparini, Altal éd., 2007, ISBN 978-2-916736-04-4
- A esposa de Assuão, Campo das Letras, 2007, ISBN 978-989-625-237-3
- Divieto di soggiorno: l'Italia vista con gli occhi dei suoi immigrati, (Rejected) Milan, Italy: Rizzoli, 2007, ISBN 978-88-17-01270-6