West Ham Urges Fans to Drop Anti-Palestine Chant

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

In a detailed statement released on Thursday, the east London side confirmed it was “aware of an offensive and divisive chant” heard from a section of the away end during Sunday’s opening fixture at Burnley.

The timing is no coincidence. 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, and the club has moved quickly to draw a line over how that tension plays out in 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, a pointed reminder that the badge comes before any political point-scoring.

The club stressed that the message was being sent “to remind supporters of the responsibility we all hold to represent the club in the right way”, as it prepares for a new reality outside the Premier League.

Relegated at the end of last season, West Ham now look to reset in the second tier. Their first home test comes on Saturday at the London Stadium against Charlton Athletic — and the hierarchy have made it clear they want the noise, not the hate, to define their return.