Barakat was born in Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza in 1959. He studied fine arts at the Alexandria university. He held personal exhibits in Jerusalem and Ramallah, and participated in a number of group exhibits in Jerusalem, Israel, Gaza City, the United States, Morocco, and most recently, in the 1996 Sao Polo biennial. He is a member of the New Visions artists group that pioneered in the 1980's the use of local media such as straw, clay, henna, leather, etc. in works of art. He is also a founding member of the Jerusalem Al Wasiti Art Center. He began painting in oil, and now works mostly in water colours, and has experimented lately with burnt wood and installations. He participated in the French Palestinian spring exhibit at the Paris Institut du Monde Arabe.