{"id":6568,"date":"2025-12-25T22:03:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T22:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6568"},"modified":"2025-12-25T22:03:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T22:03:20","slug":"palestinian-actor-and-filmmaker-mohammad-bakri-dies-at-72-gaza-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6568","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri dies at 72 | Gaza News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Celebrated director of \u2018Jenin, Jenin\u2019 documentary leaves behind legacy of artistic resistance.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 25 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">25 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Acclaimed Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri has died in northern Israel, ending a five-decade career that established him as one of the most influential voices in Palestinian cinema.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Bakri died on Wednesday at Galilee Medical Centre in Nahariya after suffering from heart and lung problems, hospital officials said.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 2 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">His passing removes a towering figure whose work directly challenged Israeli narratives and whose decades-long legal battles over censorship became a defining chapter in Palestinian cultural resistance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The 72-year-old was best known for his 2002 documentary, Jenin, Jenin, which captured testimonies from Palestinian residents following a devastating Israeli military operation in the refugee camp that killed 52 Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The film ignited years of controversy in Israel but elevated Bakri\u2019s status as a creative and would overshadow the remainder of his life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Israeli authorities banned the documentary from screening in 2021, with the Supreme Court upholding the prohibition in 2022,\u00a0deeming it defamatory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI intend to appeal the verdict because it is unfair, it is neutering my truth,\u201d Bakri told the Walla News website at the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Five soldiers sued Bakri, and courts eventually fined him hundreds of thousands of shekels while ordering all copies seized and online links removed.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with the British Film Institute earlier this year, Bakri said, \u201cI don\u2019t see Israel as my enemy \u2026 but they consider me their enemy. They see me as a traitor \u2026 for making a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Born in 1953 in the Galilee village of Bi\u2019ina, Bakri was a Palestinian citizen of Israel who studied Arabic literature and theatre at Tel Aviv University. He made his striking film debut at age 30 in Costa-Gavras\u2019s Hanna K, playing a Palestinian refugee attempting to reclaim his family\u2019s home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">His role as a Palestinian prisoner in the 1984 Israeli film Beyond the Walls earned international acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for the production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">But it was Bakri\u2019s commitment to telling Palestinian stories that defined his career. He appeared in more than 40 films and directed several documentaries examining the experiences of Palestinians living under occupation and within Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">His solo theatrical performance of The Pessoptimist, based on Emile Habibi\u2019s novel about Palestinian identity, was performed more than 1,500 times worldwide and cemented his status as a cultural icon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Bakri is survived by his wife Leila and six children, including actors Saleh, Ziad and Adam, who have followed him into cinema. His funeral was held the same day in Bi\u2019ina.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celebrated director of \u2018Jenin, Jenin\u2019 documentary leaves behind legacy of artistic resistance. Published On 25 Dec 202525 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Acclaimed Palestinian actor and filmmaker Mohammad Bakri has died in northern Israel, ending a five-decade career that established him as one of the most influential voices in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}