Rula Jebreal

Rula Jebreal (رولا جبريل, רולא ג'בריל; born 24 April 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 Nigeria-born Sufi imam Othman Jebreal and Zakia, and grew up in Jerusalem. Her father was an imam and groundskeeper at Al-Aqsa. Her mother, who suffered from severe abuse in her childhood, committed suicide by walking into the sea and drowning 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, 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 at the University of Bologna, where she graduated with a degree in physiotherapy.

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's first novel Miral was published in 2003. The film version, adapted by Jebreal, and directed by Julian Schnabel, was first released in 2010.

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 Miral whose father is artist Davide Rivalta.

Her collaboration with Julian Schnabel on Miral, extended beyond the movie. Jebreal was in a relationship with him from 2007 to 2011.

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.

She is fluent in four languages: Arabic, Hebrew, English and Italian. 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
 * Divieto di soggiorno: l'Italia vista con gli occhi dei suoi immigrati, (Rejected) Milan, Italy: Rizzoli, 2007, ISBN 978-88-17-01270-6