Renowned actor and film director Mohammad Bakri died on Wednesday at the age of 72, his family said. Bakri was suffering from heart disease. His funeral was held the same day in his hometown of Albine in northern Israel.
“With deep sadness and sadness, we announce the passing of our beloved father and actor Mohamed Bakri,” his son Saleh, also an actor, wrote on Instagram.
Bakri, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, began his career in the 1980s, performing in both Arabic and Hebrew in Palestinian and Israeli theaters and productions. His first film, Hannah K., was directed by Oscar-winning Greek-French director Costa-Gavras.
Since then, Bakri has appeared in dozens of films, including the 1984 Israeli film Beyond the Walls, directed by Uli Barbash. The film, which tells the story of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners held together in an Israeli prison, received critical acclaim in Israel at the time and was nominated for an Academy Award.
“Mohamed Bakri did not have an easy life in Israeli society,” Barbash told Ynet on Wednesday following news of Bakri’s death, adding that the actor had experienced “an incredible…journey of boycotts, isolation, and ostracism.”
Bakri was “a reactor of emotions. He was emotionally connected to the sounds of his soul. There is no doubt that he was completely involved in his work, both as a creator and as an actor,” Barbash added.
Bakri also works as a director, and for the 2002 film Jenin, Jenin, he interviewed residents of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, who allege mass destruction and the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces during Operation Defensive Shield.
The film caused much controversy in Israel and was soon banned by the Israeli Film Board. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where in 2022 the justices rejected Bakri’s appeal to lift the ban.
Despite the “crazy campaign” against Bakri and his film “Jenin, Jenin,” he “remained steadfast both in his right attitude towards the rights of his people and in his commitment to joint life and peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Israeli director Sinai Peter told Ynet News after Bakri’s death.
The actor’s identity as a Palestinian has always been a prominent aspect of his work.
His solo exhibition, “Bakri’s Monologues,” held at Al Qasaba Theater in Ramallah, featured an adaptation of author Emir Habib’s book “The Secret Life of Said: The Pessimist.”
This book is one of the foundational documents on Palestinian identity in Israel, and tells the tragic and satirical story of Said, a Palestinian who became an Israeli citizen.
