Zionist / “Zio” | #TranslateHate
Zionist / “Zio”
noun \ 'zīənəst / ‘zīō \
: a supporter of Zionism; a person who believes in the development and protection of a Jewish nation in its historic homeland of Israel
WHEN IT’S ANTISEMITIC:
Zionism is a movement and ideology to reestablish and support the existence of a Jewish state in the Biblical Land of Israel. A Zionist is someone who supports Jews’ right to self-determination in their historic homeland and Israel’s right to exist. However, antisemites often use “Zionist” or “Zio” as shorthand for “Jew,” while many antisemites attempt to cloak their hate by claiming to be merely “anti-Zionists”. Notably, anti-Zionism — the belief that the Jewish people do not have the right to a national home in their ancestral homeland (e.g. that the State of Israel should not exist) — is itself widely believed by Jews and non-Jewish allies to be a form of antisemitism.
Anti-Zionism can also spread antisemitic conspiracy theories. For example, referring to Zionism and Judaism interchangeably blames Jewish people for the actions and policies of the State of Israel, which furthers conspiracy theories about control and world domination. This was a common practice during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which claims that Jews were intentionally spreading the virus were accompanied by accusations of Zionists — describing both Israeli companies and Jewish CEOs of major corporations — of profiting off of the vaccine.
