As Jerusalem continues to be wracked by Arab riots, Israeli authorities are coming under pressure by Jewish residents of the capital to take a firmer hand against the violence. Jews fed up with the near-impunity with which Muslim extremists have been terrorizing them and attacking their neighborhoods have called for harsher measures, while the government is locked in a struggle with the Attorney General over cracking down on rock-throwers. Meanwhile, in Bethlehem just south of the Israeli capital, Palestinian Authority police are facing protests for very a very different reason, as a viral video showing their far less reserved tactics in dealing with rioters provoked protests outside PA police headquarters in the city. The video was taken on Friday, and shows PA police attempting to arrest a youth, who just moments before was involved in a violent protest in solidarity with Muslim violence in Jerusalem. When the suspect starts to struggle, the police simply shove him to the ground, at which point some half-dozen officers proceed to kick and beat him repeatedly. After footage went viral on social media an angry protest outside Bethlehem's PA security headquarters ensued, with demonstrators branding PA leader Mahmoud Abbas as a "collaborator." According to Yedioth Aharonoth , the youth in question was a 17-year-old named Mohammed Hamamra from the town of Bet Sahur, near Bethlehem - who just so happened to be the son of a senior police officer himself. Unsurprisingly, given the teen's powerful family ties, PA police have reportedly disciplined several officers in connection with the incident, hoping to placate the angry Hamamra clan.
