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The MEMRI Daily: December 23, 2010

MEMRI | MEMRI TV | THE MEMRI BLOG | MEMRI ECONOMIC BLOG | JIHAD AND TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR TURKISH MEDIA PROJECT | IRAN BLOG | THE MIDDLE EAST CULTURE BLOG| THE URDU-PASHTU MEDIA BLOG

MEMRI relies solely on the generosity of our donors to be able to add to our extensive published research on a daily basis. So please do not forget to make a donation to MEMRI's End of Year 2010 campaign by clicking here, so that we can meet our end-of-year financial obligations. The following is research published today from the MEMRI Special Dispatch Series and the MEMRI TV Project. Inquiry and Analysis No. 651—Iran Controversy in Iran over Government's New Policy Encouraging an Increased Birthrate By: A. Savyon and Y. Mansharof* Over recent months, controversy has raged in Iran over family planning issues, following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement of a program to increase the birthrate and his statements that the country's population should be 150 million – roughly double its current size – and that families should have more than two children. In early May 2010, Iranian Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei expressed concerns over the country's declining birthrate. The Panjereh weekly quoted Khamenei as telling a political meeting he convened that "the infrastructures and means of the country are enough [for the needs of] a population of over 100 million, such that there is no need to be apprehensive about population growth... Tell your children that they should not worry, and should not be overly concerned about family planning."[2] A short time after Khamenei made these statements, Ahmadinejad and his spiritual mentor Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah-e Yazdi said that there was no justification for reducing the birthrate, and that a family planning policy – that is, control of the birthrate – is a Zionist and Western plot aimed at harming the Shi'ites. Ahmadinejad's statements indicated that the absence of a suitable infrastructure is no reason to refrain from massive population growth. To read in full, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4869.htm. Special Dispatch No. 3472—Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor/South Asia Studies Project/Pakistan Hizbut-ut-Tahrir Pakistan Letter Calls for Military Coup to Establish Caliphate in Pakistan, Says: 'O Muslims! Deliver This Letter to All the Sincere Ones Whom You Know in Pakistan's Armed Forces' The Pakistani chapter of the British international Islamist organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir has issued a letter to Pakistani armed forces, calling upon "sincere" Islamic soldiers to establish Khilafah (Islamic caliphate) in Pakistan. The letter, titled "O Muslims! Deliver This Letter to All the Sincere Ones Whom You Know in Pakistan's Armed Forces," accuses Pakistani rulers of bowing before the U.S. and India. The letter was published simultaneously in English and Urdu on the website of Hizb-ut-Tahrir Pakistan, which is banned in Pakistan. To read in full, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4871.htm Special Dispatch No. 3471—Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project/Lantos Archives on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial Leading Sunni Scholar Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi Supports Suicide Bombings in Palestine and Declares: 'I Am Against the Peace Process' Following are excerpts from an interview with leading Sunni scholar Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, which aired on Al-Hayat 2 TV (Egypt) on December 17, 2010. To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2731.htm. To view the MEMRI page for Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi, visit http://www.memri.org/subject/en/114.htm. Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: "I conduct dialogue with the Christians, but if the Jews join the dialogue, I say 'no' – until they lift their injustice from upon us. [...] "I am not against Judaism. I am not antisemitic or anti-Jewish. How can I be anti-Semitic, when I am Semitic myself? I am an Arab, and it is well known that the Arabs are Semites. From the racial perspective, the Jews are our cousins. We are the descendants of Ishmael, and they are the descendants of Jacob [sic]. We Muslims are not racists. [...] To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4870.htm/?%20zdfv\