The Foreign Office of Pakistan has come in support of the Foreign Minister,Shah Mahmood Qureshi, over his bold remarks against Israel in an interviewon CNN.

During an interview with the US news channel on Thursday, the ForeignMinister remarked that Israel has deep pockets and controls media.

The remark was conceived as an anti-Semitic slur by the anchor, BiannaGolodryga, a Jewish immigrant, who tried to push back Qureshi withcross-questioning.——————————

The anchor then tried to corner Qureshi, but he stood by his stance,saying, “Well, you see, the point is, they have a lot of influence, andthey get a lot of [favorable] coverage.”

The anchor then shared a short clip from the interview, accusing theForeign Minister of constructing anti-Semitic remarks.

Following the development, the Twitterati came in support of Shah MahmoodQureshi, defending his words as ‘anti-Israel’ and not anti-Jewish.——————————

The same was conveyed by the Foreign Office in its recent statement onFriday.

“The Foreign Minister’s remarks made during his interview with the CNNcannot be construed as anti-Semitic by any stretch of the imagination,” theFO spokesperson said. Further stating that any twist given to the ForeignMinister’s remarks will prove the very point he was making.

“The right to freedom of expression must be respected equally by everyone,”the statement added.