NAPLES, Fla. — The Solidarity with Israel Coalition hosted a rally on Thursday afternoon in Naples.
Dozens of people attended holding home-made signs and Israeli flags.
Watch how the rally went:
Mark Katsnelson is a member of the organization. It was established on October 7, 2023 after Hamas attacked Israel.
"It's a terrible situation, innocent lives are lost on both sides," he said.
Others in Naples, like Alethea Shapiro share a different perspective.
"Quite simply, there are no two sides to genocide, and they have stopped keeping count of how many Palestinians have been massacred," she said.
Hundreds of Palestinians have died this week since a cease fire fell through in the region. There is no current end in site to the war.
Pro-Palestinian supporters are speaking up, claiming Israel’s military is and has historically been oppressing Palestinians.
"Hamas is very adamant that they want a right of return for refugees, and a right of return for the diaspora of Palestinians, so that's just context to the history," she said.
The people who gathered at the Naples rally want to see hostages Hamas has taken, returned to their countries.
"The blame goes squarely on Hamas. Israel proposed peace and negotiation deals numerous times," Katsnelson says.
He feels ceasefire is not an option until that happens.
"It's important to get the Palestinian voice out there because it's very unfortunately and unfairly vilified," Shapiro said.
