Ethiopian Israelis protest against `police brutality`

Tel Aviv: Thousands of Ethiopian Israelis protested in central Tel Aviv on Sunday against alleged police brutality and institutionalised discrimination, an AFP correspondent said.

The protest came three days after a stormy demonstration in Jerusalem sparked by footage showing two policemen beating a uniformed Israeli soldier of Ethiopian origin.

Scores of other Israelis also joined Sunday`s rally, chanting and holding up signs reading: "A violent policeman must be put in prison" and "We demand equal rights".

As they marched through roads in central Tel Aviv, some held their arms in the air, wrists crossed as if handcuffed.

Police failed in preventing demonstrators from blocking the nearby Ayalon expressway, causing huge traffic jams in one of the country`s central highways during rush-hour, and refrained from using force in evacuating protesters.

There were no reports of major clashes as occurred in Jerusalem on Thursday, when 10 protesters and three policemen were injured.

"Being black, I have to protest today," 34-year-old Eddie Maconen told AFP.

"I never experienced police violence against me personally, but it is aimed at my community which I have to support," he said.

Maconen, who came to the country aged three, said the protesters wanted violent policemen to be put on trial before deeper issues of social inequality were tackled.

"First the police need to be dealt with, then we`ll get to all the other (official) bodies that screw over Ethiopians," he said.

Zion Cohen, an Israeli participating in the demonstration, told AFP the Ethiopians were "a hundred percent right" to protest.

"It`s a racist country and we don`t accept them," he said.

As the rally began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying that on Monday he would meet Damas Pakada, the soldier who was beaten, as well as other representatives of the Ethiopian community.

Police had pledged a crackdown against those from the force who have used violence after the video footage went public.

More than 135,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel, having immigrated in two waves in 1984 and 1991.

But they have struggled to integrate into Israeli society, despite massive government aid.