Zahi Hawass, an Egyptian archaeologist, expressed his support for the efforts made by the Egyptian-British advisor Jihan Al-Husseini to support attempts to return Egyptian antiquities from the British Museum.
Hawass added that British law prohibits the return of antiquities, and therefore the document submitted by Al-Husseini to the British Parliament strengthens their efforts, saying, "If the Egyptians and Arabs who were naturalized in Britain signed the document, the Parliament would start looking into the matter."
He explained that Al-Husseini, a British legal advisor of Egyptian origin residing in Britain submitted a legal petition (Petition) to the British Parliament requesting it to discuss amending the law on the recovery of antiquities in Britain, in accordance with the steps followed in Parliament.
According to Hawass, the petition was accepted by Parliament on February 6 and was published on its official website to collect signatures on it, as it is legally followed that Parliament does not discuss any request to amend a law unless it is submitted by one of its members, or through a petition bearing the signature of one hundred thousand citizens holding British citizenship or permanent residence.
The Egyptian archaeologist stressed that the only way to recover the antiquities is to amend the British law on antiquities recovery, which prevents the British Museum administration from responding to any request from other countries to recover antiquities that were taken unlawfully or by illegal means.
In order to have an opportunity to discuss amending the law in parliament, the petition must have 100,000 signatures.
Hawass appeals to all Egyptian and Arab citizens who hold British citizenship or permanent residence in the UK and calls on them to sign the petition, and this is its link: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/632459
Contributed by Israa Farhan
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