SAFE Petition Progress: "Responsible" Collectors Apparently are not

As I write this the SAFE petition in support of a bilateral cultural property agreement between Greece and the US has 600 signatures. That is nice, but not nearly enough to show that people care about this issue.

I am informed that ten days ago the appeal was posted on Tim Haines' so-called "Responsible artefact collectors' forum" run by aptly-named Yahoo. So far I see only a handful of names from among its 2000-plus membership among the signatories. Most notable of all is missing the name of the list-owner himself, petty artefact dealer, self-declared "responsible" antiquity collector and political activist Tim Haines. Given the subject of the bilateral agreement (fighting illegal export of artefacts) that rather puts his own commitment to "responsible collecting" into perspective. Actions speak louder than words, the fact that less than one percent of his membership has shown their support of the ideals behind that petition makes a mockery of the claims of that group to represent any kind of responsible collecting. Among its membership are the people who feel threatened by attempts to curb the legal trade, now we see how many among the group feel this would actually affect their own collecting activities. Ninety nine percent of the membership of the Yahoo Ancient Artefacts Discussion group it would appear.

Please add your name to the petition in support of the US-Greece bilateral agreement to protect cultural heritage of Greece against illegal export.

http://www.petitiononline.com/greekmou/

Here's why:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/Greecemou.php

And ask everyone who cares to do the same.
Spread the word.
.