TODAY, WE ARE ALL NORWEGIANS

Location: Admiralty Arch, London

I was on a course last week, learning new skills and brushing up long-forgotten ones, in a building near this London landmark. It is the gateway to The Mall, with Buckingham Palace at the other end. It is also very close to Trafalgar Square, where for generations, British people have come to celebrate and to protest. It is near the West End and Leicester Square, where film stars come for premieres. London theatres are also within the vicinity.

Admiralty Arch is also a few steps from Whitehall, where so many government departments are located.

I cannot begin to imagine how scared and traumatised the people of Norway must be after the events today. As soon as I heard the news I sent frantic texts to two of my lovely friends, one is a Palestinian living in Oslo, the other is a lawyer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ahmed replied straight away, reminding me that he was visiting his family in Jordan - in my panic, I had totally forgotten this.

Inger replied on Saturday afternoon - she had been in the MFA, about 20 minutes away from the Prime Minister's offices, and her building had been rocked by the blast. She was so upset by what had happened.

I am encouraged by the Prime Minister of Norway's words - they will react with more democracy, more openness and more humanity to the atrocity.