Egypt: Tamarod against the Minister of Antiquities

AbdelHalim H. AbdAllah, ‘Tamarod against the Minister of Antiquities’ gathers 4,000 signatures', Daily News Egypt November 6, 2013

The Minister of Antiquities has no vision and must resign, president of the Egyptian Antiquities Association and Tamarod coordinator Ahmed Shehab has said. Shehab explained in a telephone interview that the group had printed 10,000 petition forms and have filled 4,000 so far, but are planning to reach 30,000. Those who signed the petition are employees in the ministry and fresh archaeology graduates [...] In response to inquiries on reasons for their demands, Shehab said: “Dr Mohamed Ibrahim hasn’t dealt with the ongoing antiquities looting from sites all over Egypt; nobody knows the actual numbers of pieces in storage. The demands of the employees of the ministry as well as the fresh graduates are not met, and there is no plan [nor intention] to resolve all these issues”.[...] The state of Egypt’s antiquities have been under scrutiny after the country’s most popular icon, Dr Zahy Hawass, was removed from his position after the 25 January Revolution because of his relationship with ousted President Hosni Mubarak, controversy regarding the nature of his earnings and his management of the ministry. [my hyperlink]

The interesting thing about this is that Mubarak is now sitting at home, the controversy about Hawass' earnings has been resolved in Egypt (though the US is belatedly looking into payments made by their side) and it would seem that his management of the Ministry, while not without its critics, seems to have been more adept and effective than any of his successors. Are some behind the scenes using Tamarod and outrage against the incapacity to deal with antiquities issues to prepare the ground for Hawass' return?

In the article, mention is made of the activities of a group called “Egypt’s Heritage Task Force” which has been highlighting the dire situation of Egyptian antiquities since last September. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about the state of Egyptian antiquities, which are looted by organised armed groups, as well as the illegal construction of residential buildings and cemeteries on sites of national heritage such as Dahshour, Malawy and El-Lisht.

I also wonder what happened to the calls of Salah El-Hadi of the "Egyptian Archaeologists' Syndicate" for the Ministry of State of Antiquities (MSA) to cut all ties with foreign – and especially American - archaeological missions issuing an ultimatum to antiquities authority: Cut all ties with 'foreign,' 'enemy' countries' institutions...or we will (Nevine El-Aref 'Egyptian archaeologists demand countries mind their own business' Al-Ahram Friday 16 Aug 2013).