The organization behind the proposed Cordoba Initiative — more commonly known as the Ground Zero mosque — is the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA). As reported previously, the government of the Netherlands has been implicated in the funding of ASMA — $500,000 and $1,000,000 respectively, in separate instances — and thus can be considered a co-financier of the Ground Zero mosque.
The Dutch government stoutly denies funding the Cordoba Initiative, maintaining that the money it gave ASMA was earmarked for other uses. Overlooking for the moment the fact that money is fungible — funds specified for one purpose may free up money for another — how plausible is the official denial? Can the generosity of the Netherlands with its taxpayers’ money be traced directly to the Victory Mosque at Ground Zero?
Our Flemish correspondent VH has translated a massive investigative article from the Dutch-language section of the ICLA website which provides some answers to these questions.
A Mosque Too Far II: Does a Dutch minister mislead parliament over the Ground Zero mosque?
In late July the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen (CDA, Christian Democrats) answered parliamentary questions from the Party for Freedom (PVV) about the involvement of the Netherlands with the organization behind the Ground Zero mosque[1] (MDG3 Fund; Millennium Development Goals). In his answers the Dutch Minister denies involvement, because according to his information ASMA would have nothing to do with the Ground Zero mosque.
However, on closer examination of both ASMA and The Cordoba Initiative and the 2009 Audit of ASMA, the opposite seems to be the case. The Netherlands indeed is involved. ASMA — which received a grant of €1,000,000 for the term October 13, 2008 to June 30, 2011 from the Dutch MDG3 Fund — and the Cordoba Initiative are deeply intertwined with respect to leadership, organization, and financing. Therefore the assumption of the Dutch Minister that ASMA has nothing to do with The Cordoba Initiative is wrong, and his answers to Dutch parliament do no correspond with the facts.
Below are comments on the replies of the Minister who since the fall of the government Balkenende replaces the resigned responsible Minster of Development Cooperation Bert Koenders (PvdA, Labour Party, Socialists):
Answers from Mr. Verhagen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to questions of members Wilders and Fritsma (PVV) on ‘the co-financing by the Netherlands of a mosque on Ground Zero’.
Question 1: Is it true that Dutch taxpayers’ money is used for the support of the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), the organization Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, who wants to build a mosque on Ground Zero?
Answer: No, the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) is not involved in the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero in the United States. For that reason, therefore, there is thus no Dutch tax money used.
However, the American Society for Muslim Advancement does receive subsidy from the Dutch MDG3 Fund to implement the program of the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity (WISE) Compact program. […]
First: ASMA (American Society for Muslim Advancement) at the website of the Cordoba Initiative, which wants to build the mosque Ground Zero, is called a “partner organization”.
Second: The co-founder and Director of ASMA, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, is co-founder, Director and Chairman of the Board of The Cordoba Initiative.” Also Daisy Khan, director of ASMA, is co-founder and Director of The Cordoba Initiative, which has as “principal place of business” the office address of the ASMA society.[2]
Third: Faisal Rauf himself suggests that the Netherlands supports the Cordoba Initiative, “My Cordoba Initiative is supported by both the West and the Muslim world,” he insists. “My work has drawn the attention of governments of many countries,” he said, naming Malaysia, Qatar, the Netherlands and Britain. And that corresponds with the facts: ASMA and the ‘Cordoba Initiative are one, thus is ASMA involved in the (planning of) the construction of the mosque.
Northeast Intelligence Network (NIW) has examined the books of ASMA and concludes:
Abdul-Rauf founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) in 1997, which has been run by his wife, Daisy KHAN since 2005. According to a review of financial statements, ASMA is the fiscal agent for the Cordoba Initiative. The Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement share the same infrastructure, space, and other operational assets, making them virtually one in the same, except on paper.
In the Audit [html, pdf] it is indeed stated that The Cordoba Initiative and ASMA are sister organizations, “sharing the same infrastructure, space, utilities, vendor services and co-sponsorship of programs to remain fiscally lean and keep operational costs low for both” [Audit, p.10], which in fact means they basically operate as one: “ASMA is acting as a fiscal agent and is developing Cordoba’s ability to function independently.”
Fourth: As NIW further sates, a review of the same financial statements provides interesting insight into the funding of ASMA: International donations included $576,312 from the government of Qatar and $481,942 from the Millennial Development Goals Fund (MDG3) of the Netherlands [according to Ayssa Lappen transferred directly to ASMA, only days before Feisal Abdul Rauf closed the purchase of the building on June 20, 2009]. Also remarkable is a $53,664 contribution from the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) of which the Netherlands is the biggest sponsor: “We are by and large the biggest donor to UNFPA, and also will continue to be,” Minister of Development Cooperation Bert Koenders said in 2009 in the Dutch Parliament. Daisy Khan, who is Director of both The Cordoba Initiative and ASMA, is and supervising ASMA’s program WISE, joined a UNFPA conference in 2009 with the theme “Women’s Empowerment” on behalf of the ASMA Society.
Besides the “Cordoba House” (the Ground Zero mosque), the Cordoba Initiative itself labels not only ASMA as its partner organization, but also the “intrafaith” program of ASMA, “WISE” (Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality) as one of its projects, quote:
Women’s Empowerment (WISE): Coming Soon: The Women’s Islamic Initiative wisemuslimwomen.org in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) Portal is Currently in development. Following the feedback Received at the WISE conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we are working hard to complete the Portal and aim to launch during Ramadan.
WISE is the ASMA project for which the Dutch funding is intended.
On WISE Muslim women, Daisy Khan is quoted as saying: “We must lift up the truth of Islam, a truth that has inspired positive social change for fourteen hundred years,” which shows chutzpah. It further mentions: “[Daisy Khan] has led numerous interfaith events, such as the […] Cordoba Bread Fest Banquet.” This “Cordoba Bread Fest Banquet” is mentioned by the Cordoba Initiative website as “an accomplishment of The Cordoba Initiative leadership team”, and Daisy Khan presents herself as one of those:
2003 June: Córdoba Bread Fest: The Children of Abraham Break Bread Together. Organized by Daisy Khan and the ASMA Society, the Cordoba Bread Fest convened over three hundred Christians, Jews and Muslims to break bread, dine together and share stories about the historic role of bread in the different Abrahamic religions and cultures.
In addition, WISE is mentioned by the Cordoba Initiative website as an accomplishment of the Cordoba Initiative leadership team: “2006 November: WISE–Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity The WISE conference, organized by Daisy Khan [of the Cordoba Initiative] and the ASMA Society and co-sponsored by the Cordoba Initiative.”
The ASMA Society states: “WISE: Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality programs [and “Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow” (MLT)] were launched at an international scale in Doha (MLT) and in Malaysia (WISE).
According to the Audit, ASMA has, including staff for WISE, etc., a total budget for the period 13 October 2008 to 30 June 2011 of US $1,000,000 (Audit, p. 10), which corresponds to the mentioned official Dutch Millennium Development Goals Fund (MDG3) grant to WISE for exactly that period (October 13, 2008 to June 30, 2011). The grant of €1,000,000 (circa US $1,300,000), however, cannot be found as such in the books, except possibly the mentioned “temporary restricted” grant/contribution of US$1,298,918 [Audit, p.3]. It seems in any case that the Dutch grant covers the operating costs of the organization as a whole over the period October 2008-June 2011.
Furthermore, ASMA is not included in the Guidestar declarations of “nonprofit reports and Forms 990”, which is mandatory for a non-profit organization such as ASMA. This means that no tax report has been filed, which would be illegal. Thus there is no transparency, which suggests ASMA may not be a bona fide organization.
Rep. Peter King (R-LI), who opposes the mosque, said in the New York Post that the developers seem to be operating under false pretenses. “I wonder what else they are hiding,”… “If we can’t have the full truth on this, what can we believe?”
Conclusion: Contrary to what the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen states (on behalf of former Minister Bert Koenders), ASMA is indeed related — and not insignificantly (including financially) — to the Cordoba Initiative, the organization that wants to build the Ground Zero mosque. Both Faisal Rauf and Daisy Khan represent “The Cordoba Initiative” and ASMA, and both organizations are deeply intertwined. This means a subsidy to ASMA for the WISE program also benefits The Cordoba Initiative organization.
Notes:
[1] Source Gates of Vienna “Is the Netherlands Subsidizing the Ground Zero Mosque?” — In May it was unveiled that the Netherlands was possibly involved in the Ground Zero mosque project: “Faisal Abdul Rauf [who wants to build the Ground Zero mosque] promotes the further advance of the Islam founded 1997 the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA). His wife Daisy Khan, born in Kashmir, has led the organization and its subsidiaries since 2005, including the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity (WISE). In 2009 ASMA was awarded a subsidy of €1,000,000 from the Dutch Millennium Development Goals Fund (MDG3) of the then Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation, Bert Koenders [PvdA, Labour Party, Socialists… It seems that the Netherlands, which has the dubious honor alongside Qatar as one of the largest public funders of the ASMA, is co-financing the planned “Ground Zero mosque; or at least has dirty hands.”
[2] Source: Articles of Incorporation of the The Cordoba Initiative, 20041191886 N, 05-26-2004, Colorado Secretary of Sate; the principal place of business mentioned is “New York 175 E, 96th Street, Suite 21T, New York, NY 10128”; the address of the ASMA Society.
The number of directors constituting the initial Board of Directors is four (4). The names and addresses of the persons who shall serve as the initial Board of Directors are as follows [Imam Feisal Rauf, John S. Benett, Daisy Khan, Julis Jitkoff]
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
Director & Board Chair
P.O. Box 7376
North Bergen, N.J. 07047Daisy Khan
Director
201 W. 85th Street, No. 10E (APT 10E)
New York, N.Y. 10024
Part 2: WISE and the Links to Malaysia.
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