Israeli Ethiopians rally in Tel Aviv against discrimination, police brutality

Nearly 1,000 Israeli Ethiopians protested in Tel Aviv Monday against police brutality, racism, and discrimination against them, two weeks after a similar protest in the city became violent.

Monday's protest was peaceful and no arrests or clashes have been reported up to late Monday evening.

Dozens of protesters and police officers were injured in the rally that took place two weeks ago, after clashes erupted between both sides and turned it into one of the most violent protests in the country's history.

The rally started on Monday afternoon with only several dozens of protesters and grew to hundreds of participants.

Protesters carried signs reading "No legitimacy for police violence" and called to close criminal records which they claimed were unjustified against Ethiopian youths.

"We will change the situation by taking responsibility over our lives," Yayo Avraham, who organized the protest, said during the rally, the Ha'aretz daily reported, adding that the protesters will not stand idle while police is using excessive force against them.

Later in the day, about 200 protesters tried to block main roads, but they were diverted by police forces without special incidents.

"Everything was conducted on Monday with approval," Dor Bugale, another organizer, told the Channel 10 news. "We're not against the cops. We're against the regulations that are given to them and the fact that some of them are taking the law into their own hands," he added.

Protests took place throughout the country, including the big cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa in recent weeks, triggered by video footage of two police officers beating an Ethiopian soldier.

Jewish descendants from Ethiopia migrated to Israel in two major waves in 1984 and in 1991.

According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, the Ethiopian descendants in Israel amounted to 135,500 people out of an overall population of eight million by 2013.

Many of them live in impoverished areas in Israel and according to the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews, they earn 40 percent less than the average Israeli income, with 38.5 percent of them living under the poverty line.

Community activists demanded during a recent press conference to improve welfare services, education and housing for the Ethiopian Community, as well as indicting the police officers beating the Ethiopian soldier.

"There's no place for racism in Israel and Israel will establish a ministerial committee to overlook the matter," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday during a ceremony commemorating the 4,000 Ethiopian Jews who died while trying to flee their homeland for Israel in 1980s. Endit