Background

Laura Blumenfeld was born in 1964. She grew up on Long Island. Laura is a daughter of a rabbi, David, and an attorney, Norma Blumenfeld.

Education

Laura Blumenfeld studied at Harvard University and she got there a Bachelor of Arts. Also, she studied at Columbia University. She got there a Master of Arts.

Career

A correspondent for the "Washington Post," Laura Blumenfeld used her experience as a reporter to hunt down the man who tried to kill her father. In March 1986, a Palestinian murder gang shot foreign visitors in Jerusalem to destroy Israeli tourism. Their first victim was Rabbi David Blumenfeld of New York, who was shot in the head. Luckily, Blumenfeld survived with only a grazed skull.

In 1998, his daughter, Laura Blumenfeld, a "Washington Post" reporter, went to Israel to track down Omar Khatib, her father's shooter. She traveled to the West Bank and posed as a journalist, an experience she chronicled in the bestselling book, "Revenge: A Story of Hope." She later revealed her true identity to the gunman at his parole hearing.

Blumenfeld's book Revenge: A Story of Hope" chronicles her efforts to confront the shooter and her travels around the world to explore the meaning of revenge, moving from Iran to Italy and Albania.

Laura Blumenfeld has also written for "The New Yorker," "The New York Times Magazine," "Elle," and "The Los Angeles Times."

From 2011 to 2013, Laura served as a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, where she worked on the Middle East and security issues.

In 2013 Laura Blumenfeld joined the United States Department of State to serve as the head of strategic communications for the Middle East Peace Process. She was a Senior Policy Adviser on Secretary Kerry's Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations team to 2015. From 2015 to 2017, Laura was a Public Policy Fellow at The Wilson Center.

Laura Blumenfeld is currently a Scholar in Residence at Georgetown University.

Achievements

• Laura Blumenfeld is well-known as an author of "Revenge: A Story of Hope," a global study of the dynamics of revenge and an account of her search for the Palestinian terrorist who shot her father. Her book has been translated into nine languages.
  
  She previously served in the United States Department of State as a senior policy advisor for the Middle East Peace Process. Laura spent two decades as a reporter for the Washington Post, covering the Middle East, national security, and presidential politics. She has been a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund and a public policy fellow at the Wilson Center.
  
  Laura Blumenfeld is a prize-winning Middle East correspondent.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Revenge: A Story of Hope

    (The "Washington Post" reporter who went undercover to see...)

    2002

Views

Quotations: "Every person at some point in their life has to make a choice. You have been hurt by someone. Which way will you go? Is it going to be turning the other cheek or an eye for an eye? In my case, I found a third way that I call transformation. Revenge doesn't have to be destroying your enemy. It can be about transforming them or transforming yourself."

"You are what you avenge."

"There is a spark of hope in my story because it says that the more we can see each other as individuals, the more likely the violence will decline. If we can step way back from the daily hatred and if you can look someone in the eye, it's hard to shoot him in the head."

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Thomas L. Friedman: "Laura Blumenfeld has the eye of a reporter, the soul of a novelist, and the passion of an activist. She brings all three to bear superbly."
  
  Dominican Center at Marywood: "Your candid presentation made real for us the possibility of transformation and forgiveness as an alternative to destructive revenge. Your journey is truly a story of hope for all of us. Those who attended found the evening an enjoyable and reflective event. Thank you again for bringing this much-needed message to our community, and beyond."

Connections

Laura Blumenfeld is married to Baruch Weiss. They have two children.

Father:

David Blumenfeld

Mother:

Norma Blumenfeld

husband:

Baruch Weiss

colleague:

John Forbes Kerry

John Kerry is an American politician who served in the Senate in 1985-2013 and who was the Democratic Party's nominee for president in 2004.