IN the office of one of Israel's most recognisable Arab politicians, framed pictures show him posing with famous figures like Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In front of Ahmad Tibi's desk is the Arabic slogan, "The more beautiful days are those we did not yet live", which the parliamentarian says is a poignant reminder for his people as they face increased scrutiny after Hamas' Oct 7 attack.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people in Israel, most of them civilians, while Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 37,765 people, also mostly civilians.
This has put pressure on Israel's Arab minority, who make up about 20 per cent of the population, and face escalating hate crimes and unjust police action.
"After Oct 7, hundreds of Arab citizens were hunted down, chased by the Israeli police for writing a post or a story empathising with the children of Gaza or saying no to the war," Tibi, 65, the leader of an Arab-majority party, said.
Adalah, an organisation advocating for Arab minority rights in Israel, said community members who expressed sympathy for Gazan civilians have been unfairly punished.
Between Oct 7 and March 27, Israeli police arrested 401 people, the majority Arabs, for speech-related offences it says were tantamount to "incitement to terrorism", its figures showed.
In the same period, there were 667 suspects for speech-related offences, with only 13 Jewish Israeli citizens compared with 590 Arabs.
"The crackdown on freedom of speech has created a situation in which Palestinian citizens... can neither protest nor freely voice their opinions," it said in a report after Oct 7.
But Tibi says he and other Arab citizens of Israel were against the Oct 7 civilian deaths.
"We said here and everywhere that we are against targeting civilians... in the south of Israel, any child, any woman.
"Meanwhile, we are talking about more than 15,000 Palestinian children killed in Gaza."
Yet in some schools, Jewish students have called for the removal of Arab classmates who faced disciplinary procedures, even if some were acquitted.
At one central Israel dormitory protest following Oct 7, students shouted "Death to Arabs!" and tried to break down doors.
But the lawmaker, who says he has lost 13 Gaza relatives to Israeli bombings, believes anti-Arab rhetoric is not getting the same reaction.
"All those on the Jewish side who called to deport Arab citizens, to kill all Arabs, to destroy all of Gaza... no one was arrested," Tibi said.
In 2018, Israel angered Arabs by adopting a law defining the country as the "nation-state of the Jewish people", and Tibi only sees inequality getting worse.
"After Oct 7, it was ethnocracy, only for Jews," he said. Tibi himself faced the ire of Jewish Israelis after Oct 7.
"I received not tens, but hundreds of threats by ordinary Israelis. When there is a war, everyone is considered to be a legitimate target."
Asked if he fears being attacked, he replied: "No, but I am cautious."
The one-time adviser to former Palestinian leader Arafat criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right ally National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for the worsening treatment of Arabs.
"He's a terrorist, according to Israeli law," he said of Ben Gvir, a settler convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organisation over his ties to a banned Jewish extremist group.
"The general atmosphere in Israel... it's almost fascist."
But between dramatic hand gestures, Tibi says he still has hope Jews and Arabs can rebuild bridges.
"I am realistic, but I am optimistic always, because I am on the right side of history."
If the Gaza war ends, he says "democracy is the only way" to solve the crisis, with a Palestinian state that offers full rights.
Switching to Arabic, Tibi had a combative message for his people and their opponents.
"We face attempts at intimidation. We have withstood in the past, and we will withstand this wave of fascism and racism.
"We were here, and we will remain here."
The writer is from AFP