Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling for calm in Tel Aviv, after clashes between cops and Ethiopian Jews who say they’re sick of being the recipients of police brutality.  The unrest comes after the videotaped beating of an Ethiopian Israeli soldier by police.

Riot cops unleashed a barrage of flash-bang grenades, tear gas, and water cannons on the protesters and their supporters.  Mounted officers swept through the crowd to disperse it.  Angry young men who were forced from Rabin Square were later caught on video overturning a police car.

The trouble came after a massive peaceful demonstration against police brutality, sparked by a video that emerged last week that showed Israeli cops beating an Ethiopian Jewish member of the Israeli Defense Force.  And it’s not like the cops didn’t know his identity; the soldier was in full uniform.  The first officer in the video has reportedly already been fired, and investigations are underway into the others.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with the soldier and Ethiopian community leaders later on Monday.

Members of the Ethiopian community are confident in their identities as Jews and Israeli citizens.  Many fought long and hard for their right of return, immigrating in several waves over the decades.  But there are complaints of abuse by police and discrimination in housing, education, and employment – especially from those who came to Israel since the 1990s.  They accuse cops of harassing young Ethiopian Israeli men by opening case files without justification and usually without any crimes being committed.

Their neighborhoods in South Tel Aviv are generally lower income communities.  A study published in 2012 shows that Ethiopian Israelis earned 30- to 40-percent les than Arabs and Palestinians who themselves are considered an underprivileged group.