Hello again, Comets! We hope you had a Happy Halloween — and that you left enough time between costume parties to study for midterms. That’s right, we’re officially more than halfway through the semester, as unreal as that sounds. This is where exams and major assignments really start to pile up, but it’s really not so bad. After all, it’s the beginning of November, which means it’s almost Thanksgiving, which means it’s almost Winter Break, so the semester might as well be over already. Easy, right?

However, for many Comets, waiting til the semester ends will not be enough to ease all their worries. Towards the beginning of October, ongoing tensions between Israel and Hamas escalated, resulting in an official declaration of war. This humanitarian crisis has led to the deaths of thousands of Palestinian and Israeli civilians. The loss of innocent lives is always an inexcusable tragedy. Because so many students have ties to the Gaza Strip and the people suffering there, this has had visible effects on campus. In the past weeks the Spirit Rocks, three large rocks near the SSA building that students are allowed to spray paint any message on, have been one way students have expressed their frustrations and grief. Multiple student groups have gone back and forth painting the Israeli and Palestinian flags on the rocks alongside wishes for peace, even guarding the rocks so their messages won’t be covered. So far there has been no violence involved, only civil and open discussions in front of the rocks. When UTD officials asked that the rocks stay unpainted for a campus event one day, all parties agreed easily. In the same way, when Students for Justice in Palestine held their poetry fundraiser night, pro-Israel students held off on painting the rock until the event had ended. We’re proud to see that, even when they disagree, the student body can handle this so maturely.

We also find it pressing to mention the email President Benson sent out attempting to address the Israel-Hamas war which, at the time of writing this, has not been amended. In this email he expressed his sadness about the loss of Israeli civilian lives, but didn’t mention Palestinians once. Ignoring an entire population who are also suffering is simply ignorant on President Benson’s part. We want to make it clear that we here at AMP want all Comets to feel safe, and to feel that they belong at UTD. We hope he will make a statement rectifying this and apologizing to the many affected students on campus. Our heart goes out to everyone who is experiencing grief, loss, and fear because of these events. We see you.