Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's recent appearance CNN has garnered the attention for all the wrong reasons, with some netizens accusing him of making an "anti-Semitic" remark. However, several others, including government officials, have jumped to his defence and are justifying his statement as legitimate criticism of Israel.
I had planned to speak with Pakistan’s foreign minister about paths towards a peaceful resolution between Israel and Hamas. Instead, he began the interview by invoking an anti-Semitic slur. Here’s the full interview. https://t.co/W8cOsWotvq
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) May 20, 2021
Qureshi — who arrived in New York on Wednesday on a Palestine peace mission and to attend the UNGA emergency meeting — was interviewed by CNN's Bianna Golodryga.
The minister began the interview by taking about Israeli aggression and calling a ceasefire "inevitable". "Israel is losing out, they are losing the media war despite their connections. The tide is turning."
Asked about the connections he was referring to, Qureshi laughed and said: "deep pockets."
"What does the mean?" asked Golodryga. To which Qureshi replied: "They are very influential people. They control the media."
To this, the CNN anchor said: "I mean I would call that an anti-Semitic remark."
"The point is that they have a lot of influence, they get a lot of coverage. What has balanced that is the citizen journalist that has been reporting, sharing videos and that has jolted people that were sitting on the fence and they are speaking up," Qureshi responded.
He said that people were raising their voices in capitals across the world of the rights of the Palestinians, and that the UN General Assembly had sent a clear message to the UNSC that it is the latter's prime responsibility to ensure peace and security.
Can we not separate the fact that there are calls for peace and for equal human rights for both sides with anti-Semitic talk and rhetoric? We are seeing an increase in anti-Semitism throughout the world [...] shouldn't you be condemning that?" Golodryga asked.
"I will not justify any rocket attacks and I cannot justify and the aerial bombardment that is taking place," the foreign minister replied, adding that the path towards peace lay in a two-state solution.
However, Golodryga again questioned the minister about his earlier remark. "You began this conversation. I personally am offended as a journalist, you began by suggesting that Israel has 'close friends and powerful friends in the media'. That is an anti-Semitic trope."
"Look at the perception the world has, you cannot ignore that ma'am," Qureshi said in response.
Later in the interview, Golodryga said to Qureshi: "If you're gonna be an honest broker then you have to approach something like this objectively and that doesn't seem to be the place where you are coming from."
"Well I am objective and will want to be objective. Loss of life I will not condone, every human life is important to me," the minister said.
I see some people trying to defend the Pakistani foreign minister’s remarks as anti-Israeli & not anti-Semitic but let’s be clear: if you are accusing Israelis of having ‘deep pockets’ and ‘controlling’ the media, then yeah, you’re invoking some pretty anti-Semitic slurs.
Sorry. https://t.co/aBKvkcDRj7
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 20, 2021
The 11-minute interview has drawn widespread criticism from people and news outlets across the world who have accused Qureshi of using an anti-Semitic trope. However, a large number have also jumped to the foreign minister's defence to argue that his comments were anything but.
Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari said: "Ridicule Islam and our Prophet PBUH and spread Islamophobia by claiming it as 'freedom of speech'. When we highlight Israelis 'deep pockets' and influence over western media and govts, it gets labelled 'anti Semitic'! Massacre Palestinians and claim it's right of self defence."