Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected the lives of millions of Ukrainians, creating one of the largest humanitarian crises in Europe. It is an exceptionally saddening event for Ukrainian students in the university, and the support they received from Syracuse University is warranted. For the past decades, Afghanistan and other middle eastern countries have been undergoing similar turmoil and we empathize deeply with our fellow Ukrainian students at SU. However, it makes us Middle Eastern students at SU wonder why we are not deserving of support from the university when our countries are currently going through turmoil as well.

In the last week, Afghans were killed in a series of blasts, while thousands are left in hunger due to the ongoing turmoil. Afghan students attending the university face devastating news of war almost every single day, especially in the last few months. Walking toward the Dome made us wonder why it did not light up to the colors of our black, green and red flag.

In the holy month of Ramadhan, the famous Al-Aqsa mosque in Palestine was raided and hundreds of Palestinian people were injured during our holy month. But did the university reach out to Palestinian students to offer their support? We only hope that SU sheds some hope and support to Middle Eastern students the way they did with Ukrainian students. We all bleed the same color.

Sajiah Naqib, graduate student in the Engineering and Computer Science Department