Mohammad Bakri, a Palestinian actor who appeared in a recurring role on seven 2020 episodes of Showtime’s Homeland and directed the controversial 2003 documentary Jenin, Jenin, died of heart and lung issues December 24 at a hospital in the regional city of Nahariya in Israel, according to local news site Al-Jarmaq and the Associated Press. He was 72.
Described by the AP as a “director and actor who sought to share the complexities of Palestinian identity and culture through a variety of works in both Arabic and Hebrew,” Bakri is perhaps most widely known for Jenin, Jenin, which chronicled a 2002 Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The film depicted the heavy destruction of the city and was banned by Israel.
Most recently, Bakri appeared in the 2025 film All That’s Left of You, a drama about a Palestinian family that also starred Bakri’s sons Adam and Saleh Bakri. The film has been shortlisted for a best international feature film Oscar.
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Born in northern Israel, Bakri staged a one-man-show in 1986, called The Pessoptimist that depicted the conflicts of a man who shared both Israeli and Palestinian identities. Also during that decade, Bakri appeared in such films as Beyond the Walls, Death Before Dishonor and Foreign Nights.
Despite his prolific acting career, Bakri’s documentary Jenin, Jenin was perhaps his highest profile project internationally, in part because of accusations that the film defamed Israeli soldiers. Legal battles plagued Bakri for more than two decades: In 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld an Israeli ban on the documentary and ordered the director to pay what the AP says was “tens of thousands of dollars in damages to an Israeli military officer for defamation.”
Bakri’s other film and TV acting credits include the 2022 film Boy From Heaven, HBO’s The Night Of, and the 2017 film American Assassin starring Michael Keaton.
In his recurring role on Season 8 of Homeland, Bakri played Afghanistan vice president Abdu Qadir G’ulom.
One of Bakri’s final projects was his performance of “Older Sharif” in Cherien Dabis’ All That’s Left of You, Jordan’s 2025 submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. Nominations will be announced January 22.
In addition to wife Leila, he is survived by six children including his actor sons Adam, Ziad and Saleh.