Zio (pejorative)

Zio is a pejorative term for Zionists, commonly used by anti-Zionists. The term is often considered antisemitic.

About
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". Mosaic Magazine has said that "Zio" is a "new anti-Jewish slur". 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. 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.

"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.

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."

In 2017, the organizers of the Chicago Dyke March faced accusations of antisemitism after their Twitter account used the term "Zio tears".

Tony Greenstein, a Jewish anti-Zionist from the United Kingdom, was accused of antisemitism in 2018 for using the term "Zios", among other allegations, and was expelled from the British Labour Party.