Rula Jebreal | |
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رولا جبريل | |
Born |
Haifa, Israel | April 24, 1973
Nationality | Palestinian |
Citizenship | Israeli, Italian [1] |
Alma mater | University of Bologna |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, commentator, author |
Children | Miral Rivalta [2] |
Website | Official Web site |
External videos | |
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Jebreal on her secret interview with Jamal Khashoggi |
Rula Jebreal ( Arabic: رولا جبريل, Hebrew: רולא ג'בריל; born April 24, 1973) is a Palestinian [3] [4] foreign policy analyst, journalist, novelist and screenwriter with dual Israeli and Italian citizenship. She was a commentator for MSNBC. [5]
Jebreal was born in Haifa, Israel, to Nigeria-born Sufi imam Othman Jebreal and Zakia, and grew up in Jerusalem. [6] Her father was an imam and groundskeeper at Al-Aqsa. [6] Her mother, who suffered from severe abuse in her childhood, committed suicide by walking into the sea and drowning when Jebreal was 5. [7] [8] She and her sister Rania were put into the Dar El-Tifel orphanage by their father, [7] [8] in 1978, until 1991. She was raised in the orphanage, and regards its founder, Hind Husseini, as her teacher and mother, crediting her with saving her life. [9]
In 1993, she received a scholarship from the Italian government to study at the University of Bologna, where she graduated with a degree in physiotherapy.[ citation needed]
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. [10]
Jebreal's first novel Miral was published in 2003. The film version, adapted by Jebreal, and directed by Julian Schnabel, was first released in 2010. [2] [7] [11]
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. [12]
She has a daughter Miral whose father is artist Davide Rivalta. [13]
Her collaboration with Julian Schnabel on Miral, extended beyond the movie. Jebreal was in a relationship with him from 2007 to 2011. [14] [15] [16]
In 2013, she married Arthur Altschul, Jr., son of banker Arthur Goodhart Altschul Sr. and a member of the Lehman family. She divorced Altschul in 2016 and started dating Roger Waters, founder of Pink Floyd. [17]
She is fluent in four languages: Arabic, Hebrew, English and Italian. [18] She describes herself as a "secular Muslim". [19]
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