38 Degrees are a campaigning organisation, that (amongst other things) creates online petitions for causes that they are supporting.

They are asking for suggestions on what campaigns to support in 2013.

I have submitted an idea for a Parthenon Marbles petition on their website. Please vote for this petition – you can place 3 votes for any one item on the site.

The petition is here.

From:
38 Degrees

Reunifying the Parthenon Sculptures (AKA Elgin Marbles) in Athens

For nearly 200 years, half of the surviving Parthenon Sculptures (Also known as the Elgin Marbles) have been displayed in the Duveen Gallery in the British Museum in London. Greece has repeatedly asked for their return, yet the British Museum ignores all such requests and maintains that the sculptures now form an “integral part” of their collection.
The Acropolis Museum in Athens opened in 2009 and forms a far more suitable home for them, situated in the context of the Acropolis, allowing them to be understood in relation to the other surviving sculptures.
Keeping them in London is a continuing embarrassment for Britain, with most attempts to justify it harking back to a colonial era when such actions were acceptable.
Whether or not there is a legal requirement to return them is undetermined, but most people who are given all the facts believe that there is an overwhelming moral obligation to return them.

Who can make the decision for their return?
The decision to return the sculptures is a matter for the director & trustees of the British Museum. They are limited by law however, which means any campaign should also target the British Prime Minister & the Secretary of State for Culture.

How can people be persuaded to change their minds?
The biggest issue is one of education – the more people know about the case, the more they are likely to support it. This involves no propaganda style exercises – merely disseminating the provable facts.

How can I help?
Organisations such as Marbles Reunited & the BCRPM already campaign for the return of the sculptures, but their resources are limited & the campaign needs to reach a wider audience with the assistance of an organisation such as 38 Degrees.

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It is now in the British Museum in London and groups in Turkey have for some time campaigned for its return.

You can add your signature to their petition here.

From:
Hurriyet Daily News

Campaign started for relic
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

A digital signature campaign has been initiated ahead of a lawsuit that will be opened at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in January for the return to Turkey of the Halicarnassus Mausoleum.

According to a written statement, several artists have signed the campaign on the website www.askinmabedi.com. The signatures will be collected as part of the lawsuit lawyer Remzi Kazmaz will file, with 30 other lawyers, at the ECHR on Jan. 30.
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Two weeks ago, I posted a poll on the AVAAZ website, calling for a a commitment to be made by the start of the 2012 Olympics for the Parthenon Marbles to be reunified in Athens.

Thank you to those of you who have added your names so far. Already, we have had 318 signatures, but we need more – the aim is to get at least 1000, but the more support that we can show, the stronger our case will appear when the results of the petition are handed to those who are in a position to make a decision on this issue (i.e. the British Government & the British Museum).

So – if you have not yet signed the petition, then please go to the AVAAZ website & add your name to the list.

If you have already signed, then remember to post about the petition on Facebook and / or Twitter, to let as many of your friends know as possible. Email your friends too, if you think they support the campaign & ask them to forward it on to their friends too.

You can read the original information that I posted about the petition & the reasons behind it here.

The actual petition itself is on the AVAAZ website – you can visit the page here to sign it.

If you want a short link to the page that is easier to remember, then go to: http://bit.ly/parthenon-sculptures-petition

Notwithstanding my earlier comments on certain campaigns linking the return of the Elgin Marbles to the Olympics, I think it would be great if the British government / British Museum would make some sort of commitment prior to the Olympics to return the Parthenon Sculptures. The petition organised by the HALC is requezsting just such a thing.

Make sure you go to their website to sign the petition, after you have read the article.

From:
HALC

Take Action
Return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece before the London 2012 Olympics

Over 200 years ago, the Ottomans granted British ambassador Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, a controversial permit to pillage the Parthenon. By the time the Earl of Elgin was done, half of the Parthenon’s sculptures and other pieces of Greece’s cultural history were shipped off to Britain.

The time has come for this injustice to be remedied and for the Parthenon Marbles to be sent home to Greece.
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Following the recent announcement by France’s president that the Bibliothèque Nationale would return numerous looted manuscripts to Korea has led to a backlash by librarians from the BNF. This issue (where the president makes decision without first discussing it with all stakeholders, followed by a subsequent backlash) is very similar to what happened with the Palermo fragment of the Parthenon Frieze in 2006, whereby the Italian president stated that the fragment would be returned, but had not discussed this with the museum in Sicily which held it, leading to a very lengthy delay before the fragment finally arrived in Athens.

The BNF staff have responded by creating a petition against the return of the manuscripts.

From:
Jesigne

Statut de la pétition

Declaration of On the fringes of G20 summit in Seoul, the President of the Republic has announced the return to South Korea of a vast collection of Korean manuscripts held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1867. It should not be forgotten that copies of most of these manuscripts exist in Korea.

– the decision was taken against the advice of the Bibliothèque and of the Ministry of Culture, which for years have pleaded in favour in agreements involving reciprocity or corresponding benefits (exchange, mutual loans etc.). Any such possibility has now been abandoned.
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