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Antisemitic campaign to shut Libyan M&S

The Libyan government attempted to force the Tripoli branch of Marks & Spencer to close using a "repugnant antisemitic" smear campaign

December 21, 2010 11:01
The Libyan store is still open

ByJennifer Lipman, Jennifer Lipman

1 min read

The Libyan government attempted to force the Tripoli branch of retail chain Marks & Spencer to close using a "repugnant antisemitic" smear campaign and “pseudo-populist rhetoric against ‘the forces of Zionism’”, according to documents released by WikiLeaks.

US embassy cables reveal that in the aftermath of the opening of the store – the first Marks & Spencer branch in Africa – Libyan officials subjected the company to "persistent antisemitic rhetoric" and even warned that a businessman linked with the chain could be killed.

In a US embassy report from Tripoli, dated June 18 2008, two months after the store opened, the writer said: “In Libya, major business deals are both political and personal.”

Despite the fact that, according to the cable, by 2008 Marks & Spencer was no longer on the list of companies the Arab League sought to boycott, the report said: “Libyan officials at the highest levels,” were publicly attacking the retailer.