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We stay focused on Palestine and Israel in this next interview with award winning journalist and author Rula Jabreal. When approached to write a book about her rise to becoming the first woman to anchor a news show in Italy, Rula Jebreal could only think of her native country, Palestine. As a teenager Jabreal reveled in the period of peace after the first Intifada, then watched with sorrow as the second intifada developed into a lasting violent conflict. Her experience as a Palestinian navigating the complex political situation, and witnessing the human side of war, colored Jabreal’s entire life. Instead of writing a biography about her eventual stardom, she wrote Miral, a fictionalized account of her childhood. Miral is the name of the story’s protagonist, a young Palestinian girl pulled toward joining the violent struggle for Palestinian independence. It was first published in Italian in 2004 and then in the United States in 2010. A film adaptation, by Jabreal’s husband and celebrated director, Julian Schnabel, was released earlier this year. The film was criticized by some as anti-Israeli propaganda. Jabreal addresses this, current events in the region, and her hopes for peace, in the following interview with Sonali Kolhatkar, recorded in early May.

GUEST: Rula Jebreal, Palestinian American journalist, author, and screenwriter, author of Miral

Find out more about journalist and author Rula Jabreal at: www.rulajebreal.net/