Jordanian beats path to Israel

JERUSALEM

The ice between Jordanian and Israeli academics may finally have been broken by a Jordanian professor visiting the University of Haifa.

Muhana Haddad, who teaches sociology and anthropology at the University of Yarmuk in northern Jordan, has become the first academic from an Arab country to take up a sabbatical post in Israel.

Despite a five-year peace agreement between the two countries, relationships between academics from Israel and Jordan have been minimal.

Many professional associations in Jordan have condemned the peace deal, forbidding their members to visit Israel.

Although no bar has been placed on Jordanian academics, Professor Haddad, who is optimistic about future relations between the countries, has paid a price for his visit. "Many of my friends have stopped talking to me," he said.