A well-known Israeli Arab actor, director and political activist was gunned down April 4 in the West Bank town where he ran a drama school and community theater, Palestinian police said.
Juliano Mer Khamis, 52, was shot five times by one or more armed Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp. Khamis was the son of a Jewish mother and an Arab father, and an Israeli citizen. His split identity fueled a long career as an actor and a vocal activist against Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, with whom he had come increasingly to identify.
He starred in several critically acclaimed Israeli films, and also appeared in “The Little Drummer Girl,” a 1984 film about the Mossad starring Diane Keaton.
Khamis’ amateur theater company drew criticism and vandalism from some Palestinians who were suspicious of the Israeli citizen, and who appeared to see the theater as a threat to their traditions. — ap