Zio (pejorative)
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Zio (/ˈzaɪoʊ/ ZY-oh) is a pejorative term for Zionists, commonly used by anti-Zionists. The term is perceived by some as antisemitic, including the American Jewish Committee and the British Labour Party.
About
"Zio" can be used as a noun or as a hyphenated or unhyphenated adjective. "Zio-Nazi" is a common pejorative term for Zionists. Other variations of "Zio-" include "Zio-Communism", "Zio-economics", "Zio-supremacism", and "Zio-occupied America".[1]
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) lists "Zio" on their Translate Hate Glossary. The AJC claims that the term "Zio" is used by antisemites to disguise their antisemitism as merely anti-Zionism, asserting that "Zio" is actually a short-hand euphemism for "Jew", and claims that anti-Zionism, as "the belief that the Jewish people do not have the right to a national home in their ancestral homeland", is widely regarded as antisemitic.[2] Mosaic Magazine has said that "Zio" is a "new anti-Jewish slur".[1] Ben Samuels, writing for Haaretz, has claimed that the term was popularized first by David Duke and then later by leftists and members of the British Labour Party.[3] The Zionist writer Ariel Sobel has also claimed that "Zio" is an antisemitic slur with roots within antisemitic right-wing extremist circles that has been adopted by progressives.[4]
In 2016, the British Labour Party released an inquiry into antisemitism stating that "Epithets such as [...] 'Zio' and others should have no place in Labour party discourse going forward." Speaking at the inquiry's launch, Jeremy Corbyn declared that "'Zio' is a vile epithet that follows in a long line of earlier such terms that have no place whatsoever in our party."[5] Tony Greenstein, a Jewish anti-Zionist from the British Labour Party, was accused of antisemitism in 2018 for using the term "Zios", among other allegations, and was expelled from the party.[6][7]
In 2017, the organizers of the Chicago Dyke March faced accusations of antisemitism after their Twitter account used the term "Zio tears".[8][9][10]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Who're You Calling a "Zio"?". Mosaic Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Zionist / "Zio"". American Jewish Committee. April 2021. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ Samuels, Ben (18 July 2017). "'Violent History' of 'Zio': How Chicago's Dyke March Adopted an anti-Semitic Slur Dear to White Supremacists". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Why Are Progressives Using an Anti-Semitic Slur Coined by the KKK?". The Jewish Journal. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Labour antisemitism report tells members to stop using 'Hitler, Nazi and Holocaust metaphors'". The Independent. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ "Tony Greenstein's 'notorious antisemite' libel claim dismissed by court". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Britain's Labour expels Jewish anti-Zionist activist over 'anti-Semitic' remarks". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ Sommer, Allison Kaplan (14 July 2017). "Chicago Dyke March Collective Revels in 'Zio Tears' in Twitter Rant". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ Stern, Mark Joseph (25 July 2017). "This Is a Safe Space. No Jews Allowed". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ "Chicago Dyke March Drops Pretense, Deploys Anti-Semitic Term Popularized by Neo-Nazis". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
