ISLAMABAD, The Foreign Office on Friday said the remarks of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made in his interview with CNN “could not be construed as anti-Semitic by any stretch of the imagination”.
“Any twist given to the Foreign Minister’s remarks would unfortunately prove the very point he was making,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in response to media queries regarding the comments of CNN anchor.
CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga, herself a Jew, had given the impression that Qureshi’s remarks were “anti-Semitic”
The FO Spokesperson said, “The right to freedom of expression must be respected equally by everyone.”
Foreign Minister Qureshi had lashed out at Israel for controlling the media and having “deep pockets”.
“Israel is losing out,” Qureshi said in the CNN interview. “They’re losing the media war, despite their connections…The tide is turning,” he added.
“I will not justify any rocket attacks…and I cannot condone the aerial bombardment that is taking place,” Qureshi said, describing Israel’s attack on Hamas as “genocide”, “ethnic cleansing” and “war crimes”.
Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari defended the remarks of Foreign Minister Qureshi, calling the anchor’s comments as “rubbish”. She said when Israel’s “deep pockets” were highlighted, it got labelled as “anti-Semitic”.
Twitterati including activists and journalists defended the Foreign Minister, tweeting out various statements explaining why his comments were not anti-Semitic and how the CNN anchor had got it all wrong.
Other celebrities also condemned the misuse of “anti-Semitic” term as an excuse to silent voices of dissent.
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