Born in Pennsylvania, Rubenberg specialized in political science and obtained her B.A. at
Hunter College, and then earned an M.A. in
international relations at
Johns Hopkins University. The latter topic was the object of her Ph.D.(1979) at the
University of Miami. Soon after, she joined the political science faculty at Florida International University. Her initial research focus was on
Latin America Her interest in the Israeli Palestinian conflict arose out of a visit she made to a Palestinian Refugee Camp in Beirut. In 1989 she moved to the
Gaza Strip for a year, together with her husband, Dr. Martin Rubenberg, she teaching English, while her husband volunteered to work as an
oncologist at a nearby hospital. They raised funds to enable four students to study at the
University of Calgary, and adopted another, Ayman Wishah, after hosting him while he studied
forensic and
clinical psychology at
Florida Atlantic University. Rubenberg was denied full professorship because of her position regarding Palestinians and Israel, and resigned to become an independent scholar. Her lectures were boycotted, her husband's medical practice suffered and both she and her husband were shunned at their local synagogue, according to her obituary, for the same reason. Her husband Marty predeceased her, dying in June 2016. ==Works==