Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters/Getty
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia—The origin of the fist bump between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and U.S. President Joe Biden is murkier than the estimated 11 trillion gallons of oil oozing beneath this desert kingdom. The ramifications of the collision are more mudded than the particulars of a Central Intelligence Agency report that reckons the country’s future king was responsible for the 2018 murder and mutilation of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
“The fist bump is a very natural gesture between the crown prince and President Biden,” Saudi Ministry of Media adviser Faheem al-Hamid says of the globally televised move some kinesics believe began as a pre-game greeting to avoid blood between dart players clutching a handful of sharpened arrows.
The kingdom’s own 2018 Classified Darts Invitational Tournament, a small part of MBS’s ballyhooed endeavour to bring fun, games and holidaymakers to the place, was staged shortly after Khashoggi’s assassination. As Saudi Tourism Authority CEO Fahd Hamidaddin sells it, “Saudi Arabia is the largest investing destination in the tourism sector.”