Advertisement

Chelsea first Premier League club to publicly decry anti-Semitism in wake of Hamas attacks

Mike McGrath
·2-min read
General view outside Stamford Bridge stadium

Chelsea have become the first Premier League club to publicly condemn anti-Semitism following the Hamas attacks on Israel this week.

The Premier League has been criticised for releasing an “ambiguous” response, with the Israeli Professional Football Leagues outlining their shock and disappointment with the English body for not treating the attacks as terrorism.

Tottenham made no specific mention of the Hamas attack when they broke their silence on Thursday, while there has been no mention of anti-Semitism from any club until Chelsea released their statement.

“Chelsea FC is enormously saddened by the huge loss of life following last weekend’s attacks on Israel. We stand with the Jewish community in London and around the world in the face of the rising tide of antisemitism, which we have long campaigned against,” read their statement. “We will join with our fellow Premier League clubs in remembering all the innocent lives lost in Israel and Gaza in recent days at Stamford Bridge when we play Arsenal.”

Chelsea have campaigned against anti-Semitism since the era when Roman Abramovich was owner of the club.. This included a pre-season fixture against New England Revolution in 2019 where proceeds went to the World Jewish Congress, the Tree of Life synagogue, the Anti-Defamation League and the Holocaust Educational Trust. And to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a giant mural was painted on the side of Stamford Bridge.

The delayed response to the atrocities in Israel and Gaza has seen the Football Association criticised for failing to move quicker, with the Wembley arch not lit up in Israel colours for the Australia friendly on Friday night.

Spurs’ statement, meanwhile, saw their charity chair resign. “I simply don’t understand what if any moral compass those who drafted and signed off the club’s statement have, given the savage butchery of Jews by Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation,” wrote Jonathan Adelman.