West Ham Urges Fans to Stop Anti-Palestine Chant Ahead of Season Opener

West Ham have issued a firm plea to their supporters to drop a chant “containing an anti-Palestine message” ahead of their first home game of the new Championship season.

The club released a lengthy statement on Thursday after being made aware of the song, which was heard from a section of the away end during Sunday’s opening fixture at Burnley.

West Ham described it as an “offensive and divisive chant” and moved to draw a clear line before Charlton Athletic visit the London Stadium on Saturday.

The issue arrives in a charged context. One of West Ham’s headline summer arrivals is Israel winger Manor Solomon, signed from Tottenham Hotspur on a three-year deal. His move has already stirred debate among some fan groups across Europe, and the club is keen to prevent any political or sectarian edge from bleeding into the stands.

“We encourage our supporters to sing loud and proud about their football club and the players wearing the claret and blue shirt — but never in a way that creates division or causes offence among fellow fans,” the statement read, stressing that the message was a reminder of “the responsibility we all hold to represent the club in the right way”.

Relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season, West Ham are trying to reset both on and off the pitch in the Championship. The club wants the London Stadium atmosphere loud, hostile for opponents, and unmistakably claret and blue — but without a chant it has now publicly rejected.