1

I think in the current political climate Jordan and Palestine come on top of the list.
cheers

2

I would generally bend over backwards to agree with you. But with Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood knocking on King Abdullah II door warning him he is running out of time to transform the Hashemite Kingdom into a constitutional monarchy, or face an Arab Spring street pressure for his abdication. Students in Jordan may be in for a few noisy semesters.

3

do you think jordan is the safer alternative given the times?

4

In 2000, I took a summer semester at An-Najah University in Nablus, Palestine. It was very good. I was especially impressed by the teacher to student ratio. On some sessions there were only 2 students, myself and a young Polish woman married to a Palestian guy.

The program is still in session, see http://www.najah.edu/page/4502

At the time I was there, the university provided an housing for women. I lived at an appartment in the city centre together with two other women, who were teaching German and French respectively at the university as part as an exchange program.

Most people in Palestine are very well educated, they do not only know Al-Fusha and can speak it, they are also quite fluent in English and other languages and eager to practise. They will however encourage you to learn the local dialect too.

The biggest problem I had was then that no bank in Nablus accepted my credit card, in order to withdraw I had to go to Ramallah. Another challenge was travelling around to other places in Israel aside from Ramallah, trying to get to the beach in Tel Aviv or Netanya in the morning and back in the evening was a nightmare. With the construction of the wall this will have only gotten worse.