Saleh Bakri, the 30 year-old actor who won the Ofir Prize (Israeli Oscar) for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Khaled, the jazz and skirt enthusiast, in The Band’s Visit, has been chosen sexiest man of the year by Motek (“Sweety”), an Israeli woman’s magazine that targets 20-something urban college graduates.

The Motek announcement came about one month after Time Out Tel Aviv published a lengthy interview with the actor (page 38), who recently played Hamlet (in Hebrew) at Tel Aviv’s Tmuna Theater. You can see Bakri in this clip from The Band’s Visit, courtesy of YouTube, where you can also watch the trailer.

Here’s the Motek cover, with the words “Ya Habibi!” (or, as far too many Israelis pronounce it, “Ya Khabeebee”) plastered across his chest:

While googling around for more photos of Mr. Bakri, I discovered two things: there are very few; and apparently the lack was noticed by a young, female Tel Aviv University student and blogger (it’s actually a group blog, written by two women who both go by the initial “N” and a man; all are university students in their early 20’s). She wrote a post about him that had me snorting with laughter, so I decided to translate it – although I was hard pressed to do justice to her witty writing style.

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The Man Who Made My Year

by N. / posted September 9, 2007

God almighty.

That’s what I muttered, and continued to mutter, after I saw the photo of Saleh Bakri in last weekend’s 7 Nights [one of Yedioth Aharonoth's weekend magazines - LG]. And when I peeked at his face half-an-hour later, I couldn’t help mumbling the same words again. And again. And God almighty, I don’t even believe in God.

Photo of the article on Bakri taken by N.

Saleh, the son of actor Mohammed Bakri (the one who made “Jenin, Jenin“), plays one of the roles in The Band’s Visit – which is why Yedioth decided to do an article on him, which is how he came into my life.

Recently I discovered that I am attracted to the Levantine type. It started with the squirrel and its Arab roots*, and continued with Channel 10’s Zvi Yehezkeli, the man who can do anything. And suddenly I’ve got the real thing right in front of me. Not another Jewish guy whose grandparents were born in Morocco or Persia, and not even another “Arab-Israeli” (which, according to Bakri, is a demeaning, misleading, political-Zionist expression ), but a real Palestinian!

But apparently it’s not just the Arab chic that does it for me, because the other N, who’s usually attracted to pale Brits, declared that Bakri was utter perfection.

Ouf! Ouf! I can’t remember the last time I had this kind of adolescent crush. I can’t go on like this. The close-cropped curls, the chiseled cheekbones and jaw line, the unshaven bristles, the chest hair that peeks through the neckline of his shirt. And the eyes. Oh my, the eyes. That penetrating, tormented gaze. Saleh, I want to have your babies. I want to distribute your wonderful genes all over the world.

A photo I took last year of some Tel Aviv graffiti. I dunno – it just seems kind of…appropriate…here.

The thing I don’t get is Yedioth Aharonoth’s bizarre decision to publish a huge article plus cover about Michael Lewis**, a guy whose personality is chiefly defined by the fact that he’s got six-pack abs. This Lewis, who looks as though he just discovered his wee-wee, is endlessly photographed as he stares vacantly at the camera while striking Paris Hilton-like poses. It looks as though 18 stylists and 15 hairdressers worked on him before each photo. Bottom line: the guy is a male bimbo. The money quote from the article about him is, “When it’s over Lewis sits on a packing case, looking glum because they photographed him from his bad side again.”

Michael Lewis

How can you compare that retarded pile of muscles to an amazing, refined creation like Bakri, whose interview begins with his story about how he helped his neighbor, an elderly Holocaust survivor, put drops in her eyes?? Clearly, our national sense of priorities has been seriously undermined – and not just because of cutbacks to the budget for the Arab sector. It’s even difficult to find photos of Bakri on the Internet.

*I’m assuming this is a private joke, ’cause I have no idea what she means with the reference to the squirrel and its Arab roots.

**One of the most famous models in Israel, and a huge star with the teeny boppers.

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Over the past couple of years a new generation of Arab-Israeli (or 1948 Palestinian) actors has entered Hebrew prime time. Kais Nashef, who co-starred in Paradise Now, has a major role in Parashat Hashavua (The Weekly Portion) alongside Clara Khoury, who plays his girlfriend. Khoury is currently filming another prime time television show – this time for Channel 2.

Clara Khoury

Kais Nashef

Youssef Sweid, who co-starred in The Bubble (and had a smaller role in Walk on Water), plays Jalal, a sexy soccer player, in the hit telenovella HaAlufa (The Championship). Sweid is number 16 on Motek’s list of the 100 sexiest men in Israel.

Youssef (Joe) Sweid

And then there was Avoda Aravit, the hit Channel 2 prime time comedy/satire that was written by Sayed Kashua and starred Clara Khoury, Norman Issa and Mira Awad. Avoda Aravit was the first Israeli prime time TV series to star Arab actors, with dialogue mostly in Arabic.

Norman Issa

Mira Awad

Wikipedia sums up the plot thus: “The show is about a young Arab couple, Amjad and Bushra, and their young daughter, who live in an Arab village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Amjad is a journalist working for a Hebrew newspaper (much like Haaretz) who desperately seeks to assimilate into the prevailing Israeli Jewish cultural milieu with mixed and hilarious results. The show holds a mirror up to the racism and ignorance on both sides of the ethnic divide and has been compared with All in the Family.”

Avoda Aravit received excellent reviews in the Hebrew press, and tons of positive publicity in the international media. But, according to this article in Haaretz, it was attacked by prominent Israel-Arab journalists, actors and politicians. Mohammed Bakri, father of Saleh, accused Kashua of treason. Others accused him of creating “pet Arab” characters who would be palatable to Jewish Israelis. Given that he became famous in Israel via his Hebrew-speaking roles, I don’t know where Mohammed Bakri gets off accusing Kashua of treason.

Channel 10’s Lucy Aharish, the first Arab news presenter on Hebrew television, did a piece on the mainstream success of young Arab artists for last Friday’s news magazine show. The link is here. It does not work in Firefox and there are no English subtitles, either, but Arabic speakers will be able to understand some of it.

Aharish starts out by stating that Arab Israelis are all over the prime time media – as actors, journalists and writers. She brings Kais Nashef, Youssef Sweid, Mira Awad and Clara Khoury together to discuss their success and to ask them what they think about the criticism directed against them from certain prominent members of the Arab sector.

Lucy Aharish

One of those critics is Juliano Mer (Number 15 on Motek’s list, but with a 20 year-old photo). The son of a Jewish mother and an Arab father, Juliano has been working as a Hebrew-speaking actor for years; lately, he has turned most of his attention to activism on behalf of Palestinian causes. He tells Aharish that he disapproves of these actors who behave as the Jews want them to behave, and who give the false impression that Arabs are on the same footing as Jews in terms of rights and benefits in Israeli society. Mer achieved his fame and success as a Hebrew-speaking actor – which didn’t stop him from signing the international artists’ petition for a culture boycott of Israel. He only became politically active after he achieved his fame, but he tells these young actors that they should devote themselves to political activism now (assuming they want to be politically active), rather than enjoying the fleshpots of Tel Aviv.

Mer and Bakri really pissed me off. I think they pissed Lucy Aharish off, too, because at the end she sums up by saying, basically, that she and her friends are just a group of young people who are enjoying their well-deserved success. Or, as Raviv Druker says, “Let them get ahead, for heaven’s sake!”