Marks & Spencer in Egypt: Excites shoppers, provokes activists

A campaign utilizing social media is calling for "Zionist" M&S not to be allowed to open in Egypt

As British retailing giant Marks & Spencer prepares to open its doors for the first time in Egypt, both eager customers and disgruntled activists prepare to do what they do best: shopping, and boycotting.
Even weeks before M&S's planned debut at Cairo-Alex Desert Road's Dandy Mall, a campaign to stop it from inaugurating was already underway on Facebook and Twitter, with its virtual headquarters at www.marksandspenceregypt.com.
But why all the fuss? "It's the 'Jewish connection' again," says Lamia Mahmoud, a self-proclaimed M&S devotee thrilled at the prospect of the chain's arrival in Egypt.
Yet as the trio of organisers behind the campaign have consistently pointed out, this is no anti-Semitic tantrum bent on banishing all things Jewish – Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer, who founded the company over 125 years ago, being Jews themselves. Rather, it's about Zionism, and more precisely in this case, stopping its supporters from entering Egypt.
Over the past decade several similar campaigns have sprung up world-wide criticizing M&S for its seemingly nepotistic policy of supporting Israel, historically and in the present. Its former chairman Marcus Sieff (1974-1984) went so far as to say in his memoir that “aiding the economic development of Israel is one of its [M&S's] fundamental objectives.”
The result has been several protests outside M&S outlets, with one of the UK's Brighton M&S stores defaced in 2004 after activists climbed onto a ladder and graffitied the words “Don't support apartheid, boycott …” next to the M&S sign.
Yet are the organizers behind the Stop Marks & Spencer in Egypt campaign willing to go this far? And to what end exactly?
Step 1: Set up a website
The three twenty-something year old Egyptian organisers of the campaign (who prefer to remain anonymous, hoping to keep the focus on the campaign itself) have no illusions about the chances of their endeavor, as it were, “saving the planet.”
“It's rather just one little step in the direction of a better world,” says one of the organizers. For them, it starts with their website, which highlights 15 facts that propose to show M&S's support for Zionism. This ranges from the historical (such as the peripheral role played by one of its early chairmen in the signing of the Balfour Declaration in 1917), to more recent history (like the $200 million in trade between M&S and Israel each year, at least until the year 2000).
So far, the online campaign has failed to attract mass public appeal, with about 185 Facebook fans and 150 Twitter followers. “But at this point, we just want to get people talking about this and to raise awareness of the issues,” says another of the campaign coordinators.
The next step, underway right now, is to call for action – some supporters of the campaign have already graffitied the Israeli flag's Star of David on one of the small M&S billboards in Cairo's streets. “We use this symbol only to the extent that it is associated with Zionism, not Judaism,” say the organizers.
In fact, the word “Jew” or “Jewish” is meticulously avoided throughout the entire campaign.
The third and final step of the campaign awaits the opening of the M&S store at Dandy Mall, which is expected to be on the 16th of December. At that point, the organizers will begin planning to stage protests outside it. But just how would Dandy Mall and its management react to that?
Opposing the opposition
“It's the job of our security personnel to keep our tenants safe,” says Ezzeldin El-Nattar, Dandy Malls Marketing Director. El-Nattar had not been aware of the activists' efforts until Ahram Online brought them to his attention for comment. However, he ultimately stated that he did not quite “see things from the angle” of the campaign.
“Business is business,” he says, noting that M&S was ultimately going to create jobs and bring money into Egypt.
“Besides, Egypt was just helping to put out a fire in Israel last week,” he added. “So we need to accept the reality of the situation.”
El-Nattar was voicing an attitude that at least some Egyptians seem to support.
Its premise is based on the perception that while they certainly may not support Zionism, why of all the things that do support it should M&S be picked on? And, anyway, just how will boycotting it help the Palestinian cause in any real way?
Taha Belal, an artist who had agreed to design the campaign logo, ended up feeling a little uneasy at how his work was used in the end. “I don't subscribe to the campaign,” he says, noting that he worries its "simplistic approach" may be taking things out of context.
"It's possibly catering to some of the pervasive anti-Semitic sentiments in Egypt, rather than offering a 'bigger picture' of how and why opposing Zionism is important and/or moral," says Belal.
Others reluctant to support the campaign point to a change in the policies of M&S in recent years.
In an email sent to Ahram Online by its retail customer service department, M&S wrote, “We do not support or align ourselves to governments, political parties or religious bodies.” The email went on to add that M&S no longer sources any of its goods from the West Bank or Golan Heights.
This shift appears to be line with the chain's returning of millions of dollars in products to Israel last year after the latter continued to mark products from the occupied territories as “Made in Israel.”
The campaign organizers, however, remain skeptical of any real change in the company's policies towards Israel, citing its current chairman's unwavering support and fundraising efforts for Zionist causes.
“Ultimately, this is not about saving Palestinians,” say the organizers. “This is about making people more aware of how they spend their money, and in this case, making them realise that by shopping at M&S, they are in some way helping fund a government that has killed Egyptians in the past and continues to kill Palestinians in the present.”
Whatever you make of it, one thing that can be certainly said about this campaign is that it is thought-provoking.
As the campaign's logo designer, Belal, says, “It's definitely at least pushed me to think about what it means to support certain companies with my money, and to consider the moral implications of that.”
A philosophical digression
Stop Marks & Spencer in Egypt raises the uncomfortable question of ethical consumerism – an issue that some would argue largely remains outside the thought processes of most Egyptian, and indeed world-wide, consumers. For many, the idea that shopping at a store could mean that they are helping to fund a company with policies or activities that they consider immoral is an uncomfortable one.
Yet in one way or another, whether it's through purchasing petrol, clothes, electronics, or cosmetics, some of your money is going to end up being used, no matter how indirectly, to either fund some foreign war, help exploit slave labor, or support abusing the environment.
For instance, it costs about $6 to manufacture an iPhone. But with an unlocked retail price that is over 100 times that figure, only a tiny fraction goes to the labourers who worked tirelessly to actually make it, at times to the point of committing suicide (as happened earlier this year at one of Apple's primary suppliers in China).
But does this mean there's a moral imperative to boycott all products that arrived to the market in ways that are morally dubious or worse?
If so, what would there be left to purchase? Plus, will the boycotts make any real difference anyway? And what about all the innocent employees who rely on such companies for their livelihoods? These are questions that consumers anticipating the opening of M&S in Egypt may find themselves pondering as this campaign continues to stir debate.
What do you think? Your comments are welcome.