Being an American, Jewish, gay, Caucasian, Zionist, and strong supporter of Israel, Ariel Sharon and the current American foreign policy, I have to say that I was slightly concerned about living in the midst of one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the city of London. When I first drove through the area while moving into my flat, I noticed an unusually high number of store signs and awnings in Arabic-suddenly , it felt as if I had signed up for five months of study abroad in Lebanon rather than University College in London. One of my friends from Brandeis told me in total sincerity not to make purchases in the area, as the storeowners might send a portion of the profits to terrorist groups like Hamas and Al Qaeda.

While at first I had my misgivings about my many Arab neighbors and their largely Muslim culture, these feelings largely dissipated after the first few weeks I sojourned in Marble Arch. Although I had first called my neighborhood "Little Beirut" because I expected a terrorist attack at any moment, I soon began to use this term adoringly. Lebanese and Hallal food became a daily staple of my diet, I frequently smoked shisha (proper Arabic for "hookah") in the local cafes, and before long, Marble Arch felt like a real home to me. So enamored was I with my experience in the neighborhood that I decided to enroll in Introductory Arabic this fall, to gain a better appreciation and knowledge of the language and culture of my neighbors.

The morning of July 7, 2005, started out like any other. I was back in the US, interning in Washington, D.C. As I prepared to head off to work early that morning, I turned on the TV. As I saw the images on the screen, my eyes became as wide as saucers. The news anchors reported that a series of "major incidents" and "terrorist attacks" had taken place on the London subway system.

The Underground had provided my means of transportation to classes several times virtually every day. I was glued to the screen as reporters continued to announce that one of the attacks had taken place at the Edgware Road station, which was located not more than two blocks from my flat. Given the timing of attacks in the early afternoon, I most certainly would have been either at the station or en route on my way back home from classes.

Later in the day, my mother called me to inquire as to how I was dealing with the news. Having previously heard me talk of my newfound affinity for Arabs and Arab culture, and in light of the emerging claims of responsibility for the attack by Al-Qaeda, during our conversation my mother remarked "I guess you don't love those Arabs anymore after today."

For the next few moments, I briefly considered what she had said. While I hadn't genuinely befriended my Arab neighbors, I had come to see them much like my neighbors at home: hard-working, decent and law-abiding citizens. While I probably would not have gone with them to the pub for a drink, I had reached the point where I could say "good morning" to the cashiers are the local store where I frequently bought my breakfast, without wondering if the man behind the counter was a secretly in an al-Qaeda sleeper cell. Would this bombing change the way I felt about Arab and Islamic people and culture?

The answer to this question was a resounding no. I have always believed that extremism, in any form, can grow in the hearts of people from even the most tolerant background.

While some may argue that those of Arab ethnicity and the Muslim religion have an especially high proclivity towards extremism, I would respond that people such as Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the perpetrators of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, as well as their sympathizers in various anti-government and white supremacy groups throughout the United States, find that their own white, Christian identities serve to bolster their extremism quite well.

There will always be those members of any society that tend towards extremism and violence. That should not serve to characterize the people who comprise the rest of those societies-the majority-who simply desire their own pursuits of life, liberty and property, without killing and maiming innocent civilians. By the way, it should also be noted that by attacking the Edgware Road station, the terrorists were effectively targeting the Arab and Muslim residents of Marble Arch.

I still look back on my residency in Marble Arch as one of the fondest times of my life. And I'm still taking Arabic this fall.