Rula Jebreal is a multifaceted individual, boasting dual citizenship of Italy and Israel, as well as Palestinian heritage. Her early life was marked by hardship, as her mother passed away when she was just five years old, and her father subsequently placed her and her sister in the Dar El-Tifel orphanage, where she received an education.
Jebreal's academic pursuits took her to the University of Bologna, where she earned a scholarship to study medicine. However, she ultimately graduated with a degree in physiotherapy. During her time as a physiotherapist, she continued her education, earning a master's degree in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Bologna.
Jebreal's career in journalism spanned over a decade in Italy, where she became the first foreign anchorwoman in the history of Italian television. Her exceptional reporting earned her the Media Watch award for her coverage of the Iraq war, as well as the International Ischia Award for Best Journalist of the Year by the age of 33.
She has conducted interviews with prominent figures, including Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema, Silvio Berlusconi, Bill Gates, President Mahmoud Abbas, Bernard Kushner, Al Berdei, and Ingrid Betancourt, solidifying her reputation as a tough and respected interviewer.
In 2006, Jebreal co-presented the influential and controversial television show AnnoZero, and in 2008, she created her own television program in Cairo for Al-Qahira Wal-Nas, Egypt's main television station. The show covered politics, economy, and the collapse of society in Egypt under Hosni Mubarak's regime, and consisted of 30 episodes.
Jebreal's literary career has been marked by success, with her first novel, "Miral", published in 2003 and translated into 15 languages, selling millions of copies worldwide. The novel was adapted into a film, "Miral", directed by Julian Schnabel and written by Jebreal, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a 15-minute standing ovation and won the UNICEF Protection of Children award.
Her second novel, "The Bride of Aswan", was published in 2007 and translated into five languages, winning the International Fince Europa Award. Jebreal's third book, "Rejected", is a non-fiction study about the history of immigration in Europe, which was published in Italy and France and is used in universities in Italy.
In addition to her literary and journalistic pursuits, Jebreal has also ventured into documentary filmmaking, writing and producing the critically acclaimed documentary "Permesso di Sogiorno" about the death penalty in China, the United States, and Iran, which aired on Italian television in 2008.
