Jo Malone and son respond to outcry over letter blaming Israel for Hamas attacks

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Perfume magnate Jo Malone and her Harvard student son have responded after outcry over a letter signed by 33 student organisations at Harvard University which held Israel “entirely responsible” for the attacks by Hamas terrorists. “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison.” “The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” the letter continued, describing Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza as “colonial retaliation.” In a statement posted on Instagram, Mr Willcox addressed reports that he was an organiser for the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, and insisted he does not support the letter’s message. He added that he has “not been on the Harvard campus this semester and was not involved in the drafting or release of the letter.” Last week, The Telegraph reported that Mr Willcox, 22, helps run the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, prompting social media users to issue calls to boycott Jo Malone London on X, formerly Twitter. Harvard University is one of many universities in the US embroiled in rows over anti-semitism “We call upon all leaders to find a humanitarian resolution for all.” It came after the letter, published on social media by Harvard students, prompted furious backlash, with Harvard professors and alumni calling on the university’s leadership to condemn the letter as well as Hamas.