Bakri passed away on December 24 at a hospital in the Israeli city of Nahariya due to heart and lung complications, according to local outlet Al-Jarmaq and the Associated Press.
Over a career spanning decades, Bakri became known as an artist who tried to capture the complexity of Palestinian life and identity, often working in both Arabic- and Hebrew-language productions. International audiences may recognize him from his recurring role in Season 8 of the TV series Homeland, where he played Afghan Vice President Abdu Qadir G’ulom.
Bakri was also the director of the highly controversial 2003 documentary Jenin, Jenin, which focused on the aftermath of a 2002 Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. The film showed widespread destruction and featured testimony from local residents. Israeli authorities banned the documentary, saying it defamed Israeli soldiers, and it became the center of legal battles that followed Bakri for more than 20 years.
In 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the ban and ordered Bakri to pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages to an Israeli military officer for defamation, a decision that reignited debate over freedom of expression and artistic accountability.
Despite the controversy, Bakri continued to work steadily as an actor. His film credits included Beyond the Walls, Death Before Dishonor, Foreign Nights, the HBO miniseries The Night Of, and the 2022 political thriller Boy From Heaven. He also appeared in the 2017 action film American Assassin, starring Michael Keaton.
Born in northern Israel, Bakri often explored the tension of holding both Palestinian and Israeli identities. In 1986, he performed a one-man stage show titled The Pessoptimist, which examined that internal conflict and helped establish his reputation as a bold and thoughtful performer.
One of his final screen appearances came in the 2025 film All That’s Left of You, directed by Cherien Dabis. The film, which also stars his sons Adam and Saleh Bakri, tells the story of a Palestinian family across generations and has been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Bakri played the role of “Older Sharif.”
Bakri is survived by his wife, Leila, and six children, including actor sons Adam, Ziad, and Saleh. He leaves behind a body of work that, while often controversial, aimed to give voice to Palestinian experiences and spark conversation far beyond the region.
Tags:
News
