Earlier this year a terrorist attack in Belgium rocked social media, covering newsfeeds with hashtags, articles, images and flag overlays on profile pictures to show support. The social media response was pretty parallel to the response after last year’s terrorist attack in Paris. The support was overwhelming from fellow westerners yet the same response is rarely duplicated when these attacks happen in the East.

Terrorism has affected us all, whether it’s domestic terrorism or international, we’ve all turned on the news, flipped the pages of a newspaper or scrolled through our newsfeed and stumbled upon horrific attacks. While it’s great to see the support, it’s quite upsetting to see how cases in the East are overlooked. Perhaps the most mainstream case of terrorism in the East so far happened last month at an airport in Turkey.

While journalists kept constant information coming through different media outlets, newsfeeds were not as keen on showing solidarity. No profile pictures were overlaid with the Turkish flag, only a few articles speckled newsfeeds, and it was rare to see pictures and status updates with #PrayForTurkey.

Turkey is not the only Eastern country under attack receiving no attention. For example, Yemen had the same amount as victims as Paris (137) yet as the world grieved for Paris, Yemen went overlooked. Just this year there have been around 238 terrorist attacks – 8 of those have been in the West. In those 230 Easter attacks, over 3,500 Iraqis, 1,600+ Syrians, 500+ Afghanis, 360+ Yemenis, 280+ Turkish and 300+ Nigerians have lost their lives.

That can be contrasted with losses in the West this year including 23 Irish, 2 French and 1 German. This is not meant to diminish the worth of those lives but to show that there are much higher losses elsewhere being overlooked in the West. While we pray for Ireland and France and Germany, we also must show support for these countries which might feel far removed from us but are still part of us and experiencing great loss.

I don’t mean to point fingers and suggest that as Westerners we don’t care about those lives – that doesn’t seem to really be the case. I think the real issue here is that we view the East as something separate from us so it doesn’t affect us as deeply. We might have ancestors or friends or family in countries like France. We are more likely to look at news or speak with people or travel to Germany than we are to Libya. Or simply culturally and/or physically we see ourselves much more in these countries than in the East.

Perhaps we don’t feel the solidary connection with these places because we don’t even know exactly where they are. We can probably identify France or Belgium or Germany but how many of us know where Kazakhstan or Georgia or Tunisa are? Instead of just flipping the page because we don’t recognize the place, let’s take the opportunity to educate ourselves. Let’s look at the faces of the victims and recognize their pain.

However, we have to start changing this way of thinking. We are all people and we all suffer. We all have friend and family that we would be devastated if we never got to see them again. We must put ourselves in their shoes and start to think “what if it had been my family at that Turkish airport?” or “what if it had been me in that mosque?” We cannot let our cultural split divide us, especially in times like these.

I found it so beautiful when all over the world I could see vigils being held, prayers being send, messages of support or images to create awareness spread all over for Paris and Belgium – so why should it be any different when it happens in the East? When it’s non-white, Muslims, poor, or war-stricken countries facing the violence?

Do we really believe that Western lives matter more? I think not, yet we cannot turn a blind eye to the rest of the world just because they don’t look or think or act like us. Thousands upon thousands of people are dying month after month in the East and we don’t see it. When over 3,000 lives have been lost in Iraq in 7 months, how can we simply overlook them? If we all look up the numbers and start to see their reality, we will never be able to look away again and that is exactly what we need.

How can we ignore Cameroon or Nigeria or Pakistan or Bangladesh while mourning over France and Belgium and the UK and Ireland? Let us weep because we must weep – because it is horrific and sorrowful – but let us suffer with all. Pray, share articles, share images – raise awareness as much of the West as the East because how can we turn from the East and live?