Antiquities collector and AncientArtifacts discussion list owner Tim Haines unjustly accuses Egyptian official Zahi Hawasss of "smoke and mirrors". He says:
Hawass reports that some "stolen antiquities" were found by the authorities in Gaza, their owners arrested and jailed, and the items "returned" to Hawass [...] It is an outrage that people can be jailed for possession of such items and astonishing that a 'committee' needs to be raised in Egypt to determine that these are not authentic.Mr Haines seems not to realise that it was not Hawass who arrested these men in another country, and when a Palestinian diplomatic mission turned up in his office with these two fakes it must have been an awkward moment requiring quite a bit of diplomacy to break the news that it was all a big mistake on the part of the Palestinian authorities. I suspect the solemn convening of a commission will have been a device to save the face of the co-operative Palestinians. Mr Haines seems to suggest it implies that the Egyptians (not the Palestinian delegation) are not as able as the smug British collector to recognise that these were not authentic antiquities.
Mr Haines might well be worried about people getting into trouble for selling reproductions as originals, take a look at what he has listed in the : Antiques - Antiquities- Egyptian section of eBay (there is a section on eBay for tacky costume jewellery and other such geegaws).
Like this one from Paul-from-England (not me, honest) honestly featured in the collectables keyrings category, not "Antiquities, Egyptian" with the fakers.\