BRIGHTON, N.Y. — Pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups rallied in Brighton, each hoping to have their voices heard.

News10NBC’s Erin Mahon spoke with Rochester Israel Action earlier about why the group organized the pro-Israel rally. Paul Sanders, the organizer, said the group decided to rally to show Jewish pride.

Brighton has a large Jewish community and over the last couple years it’s noticed an increase in counter-demonstrations. Back in 2024, the town amended its park permit rules about demonstrations.

This established the number of people present that would require a permit to protest. For Twelve Corners, that’s 20 people.

Rochester Israel Action started planning the rally around three weeks ago, getting the permit necessary to use the Twelve Corners Pavilion. Erin reached out to both Israel Action and the pro-Palestine group “Speak Up” about why they were both there.

“We’re here to use our free speech rights to expose bigotry, because I think a lot of people don’t understand how Jew hatred has been expressed throughout history — how it started, how it culminated with the Holocaust and then how it mutated after that,” Sanders said.

Sanders was not sure how many pro-Israel ralliers would show up. Their rally started at 5 p.m. The pro-Palestine ralliers started earlier. Sanders said Israel Action had about 10 safety marshals on scene making sure the two groups remained civil.

Brighton Police Chief David Catholdi said there were officers in the area during the protests.

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