Marks was Jewish. Spencer wasn't. This has nothing to do with why M&S is a 'good target'.

M&S has been, ever since the Sieff family, took over from the original founders, pro-Israel and pro-Zionist. Stuart Rose, chief exec up until last month, is not Jewish but certainly is a Zionist.

The company is a good target because it is a British company which supports Israel, through trade and through political sympathy.

Zionists will always call everyone who attacks them anti-Semitic and no 'target' would stop them doing this.

So carry on with the demos at M&S!

In fact, if you are in London, join the one this Thursday in Oxford Street (Marble Arch end) 6-8pm.

Boycott all super markets. they are all bastards.

Marks & Spencer
Historically, Marks & Spencer has made statements in support of Zionism. Lord Sieff, chairman
and founder of M&S who died in 2001, made several statements in support of Israel’s military
policies. In 1941, Sieff said that "large sections of the Arab population of Palestine should be
transplanted to Iraq and other Middle-Eastern Arab States" (Jewish Chronicle, 21/09/1941). In
1990, Sieff, in a book entitled On Management: The Marks and Spencer Way, wrote that one of
the fundamental objectives of M&S was to "aid the economic development of Israel."
There have been no reports of M&S openly showing ideological support for Israel since 2004.
The retail company has repeatedly asserted that "[it has] no 'special' relationship with any
government, political party or religious group" but accepts that M&S does "make representations
to governments in support of [its] commercial aims." M&S management has not, to our
knowledge, commented on Lord Sieff's remarks in support of Zionism and has not made a
statement as to whether the current management stands by them.
In 1998, Sir Richard Greenbury, then CEO of Marks & Spencer, received the Jubilee Award from
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In 2000, the Jerusalem Report stated that "M&S
supports Israel with $233 million in trade each year."
In October 2000, the Jewish Chronicle reported that the British-Israel Chamber of Commerce
(B-ICC) had held meetings at Marks & Spencer's offices in Baker Street. However, in 2008 the
store claimed that M&S "do not host meetings on our premises for the B-ICC." Nevertheless, in
December 2004, Stuart Rose, CEO of Marks and Spencer at the time, was a listed speaker at
the annual dinner of the B-ICC.
When questioned in correspondence about the sale of Israeli goods in M&S stores in 2008, an
M&S spokesperson said that the company buys "from Israel as… from 70 other countries…"
and went on to state that the company would continue to do so. The letter continued to say that,
"[w]e always put the country of origin on the products we sell. Where we buy Israeli products we
label them as products of Israel."
16
M&S stocks Israeli grapes, lychees, figs, plums, dates, fresh herbs, sweet potatoes, potatoes
(Maris Piper, Desiree, Jacket, Marfona, and King Edward). Many of these products are imported
through Carmel-Agrexco, a company part-owned by the Israeli state.
M&S also stocks large quantities of Delta Galil clothing, largely underwear. Delta Galil is Israel's
largest manufacturer and marketer of textiles. It is also a major beneficiary of the establishment
of 'Qualifying Industrial Zones' (QIZ) in Egypt and Jordan which promote an unequal
normalisation of trade arrangements between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt and
Jordan. Marks and Spencer also sells textiles produced by Israeli firms, Solog and Polgat.
Until very recently, M&S openly sold products from illegal Israeli settlements. The Guardian
reported in 2004 that the company stocked an extensive range of settlement products. Since
2007, however, M&S has made repeated statements to the press claiming that they do not
stock goods from the Occupied Territories [47]. In 2008, the store wrote: "We do not buy
products from the West Bank, Golan Heights or Gaza as we cannot safely visit the suppliers in
these areas because of the current security situation." It seems probable that the move to cease
selling settlement products was, in fact, due to effective campaigning, protests and fear of
adverse press coverage.
But despite the above assurance, there is evidence that M&S continues to stock Hadiklaim
dates packaged as an M&S own brand product. According to a recent report by School of
Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Hadiklaim, the Israel Date Growers’ Cooperative Ltd,
"exports dates from Israel and from the occupied territories, especially Israeli settlements in the
Jordan Valley."
In correspondence with SOAS in 2008, David Gregory, Technical Food Director for M&S, stated
the following:
"In the past, we have sold dates from this region. However, we made a policy decision
sometime ago to cease all purchases from this area. However, our UK suppliers do buy raw
material (dates) from the organisation Hadiklaim on our behalf. The contract explicitly prohibits
purchase from Palestinian Territories and Hadiklaim source the dates from elsewhere within
Israel to satisfy our requirements. Traceability systems are in place to confirm the source of the
dates.”
M&S has faced sustained protests due to their historic ideological support for the Israeli state
and because of their policy of stocking Israeli goods. Pickets have been held and store signs
and billboards subvertised. In Manchester, three pickets were held in January 2009 in response
to the bombing of Gaza. Weekly demonstrations have been held in Newcastle and in London.
M&S has repeatedly ignored campaigners' representations against the continued sale of Israeli
goods.
Address:
Marks and Spencer plc
Waterside House
35 North Wharf Road
London W2 1NW
Email:  customer.services@marks-and-spencer.com

I understood that M and S gave financial support to Israel and has done so for very many years. It is not just a case of buying Israeli goods, the support given goes way beyond that.

I think its just my perception of how non-leftists will percive actions against m and s - but perhaps that doesnt matter?

All big buisness supports israel, name one that openly doesn't, then ask why not. To criticize israel openly is suicide in the buisness world, ask yourself why this is. The answers are not comfortable, and require a strong stomach. Boycott is but one strand, but necessary. Good luck.

Please, don't leave us in suspense. Come on, tell us! Why do we need strong stomachs? We demand answers!

I criticize Lizzards dressed as people openly and my buisness went tits up.

if you read the original comment before your knees jerk and your mouth froths with righteous rage at the politics of the Israeli state and it's recent actions, it says M&S may well be a valid target, but there's others too - the problem with M&S is that it is perceived as a Jewish-owned business by shoppers, and therefore any protest there will be perceived as anti-semitic.

I agree with that completely - the comments about whether it was really founded by Jews, when it stopped stocking settlement goods, how much it continues to give other financial support, etc, are irrelevant to this argument.

As for jobe's comments, without saying it they seem to me to be about some Jewish global business conspiracy - fuck off with your racism.