![Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) welcomes his Jordanian counterpart, King Abdullah II, at King Khalid International airport in Riyadh, on November 10, 2015. Arab leaders and top officials from South America are converging on Saudi Arabia for a summit aiming to strengthen ties between the geographically distant but economically powerful regions. AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/01/GettyImages-496502446.jpg/GettyImages-496502446.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=W1fDOgsl)
Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political commentator based in Amman who specializes in Middle East issues. He can be reached at alsharif.osama@gmail.com. On Twitter: @plato010
![Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) welcomes his Jordanian counterpart, King Abdullah II, at King Khalid International airport in Riyadh, on November 10, 2015. Arab leaders and top officials from South America are converging on Saudi Arabia for a summit aiming to strengthen ties between the geographically distant but economically powerful regions. AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/01/GettyImages-496502446.jpg/GettyImages-496502446.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=W1fDOgsl)
![AMMAN, JORDAN- NOVEMBER 7: Jordan's King Abdullah II is welcomed by the chairman of the joint chiefs staff Mahmoud Freihat, upon his arrival for the State opening of the Parliament on November 7, 2016, in Amman, Jordan. King Abdullah addressed the recently elected 18th Jordanian Lower House of Parliament with the appointed Higher House of the Senate with the attendence of royal family members and the government. ( Photo by Jordan Pix/ Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/01/GettyImages-621625828.jpg/GettyImages-621625828.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=YYcOLxn9)
![RTX25F3A.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/12/RTX25F3A.jpg/RTX25F3A.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=iB7Jteq4)
![U.S. President-elect Donald Trump exits the Lamington Presbyterian Church after attending Sunday services in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., November 20, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTSSI1I](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/11/RTSSI1I.jpg/RTSSI1I.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=OiDRS_vP)
![Jordanian protesters carry the Jordanian national flag, and chant slogans during a protest against a government agreement to import natural gas from Israel, in Amman, Jordan, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTSQ7CS](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/10/RTSQ7CS.jpg/RTSQ7CS.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=4GzMGwpI)
![People walk past electoral posters for parliamentary candidates, ahead of the general elections to be held on September 20, in Amman, Jordan, September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTSO224](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/09/RTSO224.jpg/RTSO224.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=j2NnUx-C)
![A teacher distributes meals to students as part of a World Food Programme (WFP)-run project to provide healthy meals to students and to raise awareness of good eating habits, at Hofa Al-Mazar school in the city of Irbid, Jordan, April 26, 2016. REUTERS/ Muhammad Hamed - RTX2BQMO](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/09/RTX2BQMO.jpg/RTX2BQMO.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=x_1x_OWc)
![Zaki Bani Ersheid (C), deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Brotherhood, is received by supporters after his release from prison in Amman, Jordan, January 4, 2016. Jordan released Bani Ersheid after he served over two-thirds of his 18-month prison term for criticizing the United Arab Emirates. REUTERS/Majed Jaber - RTX20YKA](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/09/RTX20YKA.jpg/RTX20YKA.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=BS3GHM8G)
![A military helicopter transports a security member, who was injured during an attack at a camp for Syrian refugees in eastern Jordan near the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan, to al-Hussein Medical Centre in Amman, Jordan, June 21, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX2HCNT](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/08/RTX2HCNT.jpg/RTX2HCNT.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=JrxgEXgU)
![RTX2HCN8.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/06/RTX2HCN8.jpg/RTX2HCN8.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=16HXrLVx)
![RTSG9FA.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/06/RTSG9FA.jpg/RTSG9FA.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=trd75Si2)
![Jordan's King Hussein (L) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat review a bedouin guard of hounour on his arrival at the Royal Court in Amman October 2. Arafat arrived in Jordan on Thursday to visit the freed founder of the Islamic militant movement Hamas Sheikh Ahmed Yassein.
MIDEAST YASSEIN - RTR7BVT](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2016/06/RTR7BVT.jpg/RTR7BVT.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=XX9OckC2)
Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political commentator based in Amman who specializes in Middle East issues. He can be reached at alsharif.osama@gmail.com. On Twitter: @plato010