Mohammad Bakri: In Memoriam
JVL Introduction
Israeli-Palestinian actor Mohammad Bakri died on 24th December 2025.
He was fêted by Israel as an actor who happened to be an Arab, then reviled as an Arab who happened to tell the truth.
During the Second Intifada in April 2002, Israel launched a military operation in Jenin a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank. 52 Palestinians were killed, 22 of them civilians.
Bakri went in to document the events and to expose Israel’s war crimes in his film Jenin, Jenin.
The file was banned and Bakri hounded for it ever after: “The blue-eyed Arab that Israelis had loved to love, who had once starred in the first Israeli film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, “Beyond the Walls,” was branded a traitor and a collaborator with terrorism.”
Vindictively pursued over the decades the story of his trial in 2021 was told by Suha Arraf at the time here.
Attorney Michael Sfard who defended Bakri in court honours Bakri’s life and commitment.
RK
This article was originally published by +972 Magazine in partnership with Local Call on Tue 6 Jan 2026. Read the original here.
Until his final day, Mohammad Bakri would not be crushed
Israel’s courts, military, and mainstream media united to punish the Palestinian actor for giving voice to his people. But he remained unbroken to the end.
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A tragedy. A brilliant actor across the divide. Unswervingly clear eyed, uncompromising director whose resonant work transcended decades of harsh Israeli government suppression. His brave spirit will continue to shine. His iconic talent lives on through his remarkable films and in the glorious work of his equally committed actor sons, Ada, Ziad and Saleh.