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A minor political existential storm has been kicked up in Pakistan over the visit of a PTV anchor to Israel recently. Pakistan Television corporation (PTV), is the state owned broadcaster of Pakistan and hence is considered the government’s mouthpiece. This move could mask the Pakistan’s calculated move to reach out to Jerusalem without inviting public ire, especially those of hardliners.
The PTV anchor, Ahmed Quraishi, was part of a delegation of Pakistani-Americans to Israel on a goodwill visit. Another Pakistani citizen in the delegation was a Jewish citizen, Fishel Benkhald. Since PTV was a government-run broadcaster, Quraishi’s presence in Israel has raked up a small storm of sorts with the government and opposition leaders denying and condemning the action. Quraishi has since been dismissed. But no one in the present government, and in the previous government, is willing to clarify how an anchor in a government-run broadcaster, even if on contract, could go to Israel without the state’s permission.
This question assumes significance in the presence of Fishel Benkhald who was the first Pakistani to get official permission to visit holy Jewish sites from the Imran Khan government. Now ousted, the former Prime Minister has been heard accusing the Shehbaz Sharif government of conspiring to overthrow him with the help of the US and its allies, including Israel.
Imran Khan seems to have conveniently forgotten that not only did his government give the first...
Read Full Story: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/another-israeli-storm-in-pakistans-tea-cup/
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