Christopher Kaufman
Published on February 11, 2026
The anti-Semitic slur is becoming as acceptable as the racial epithet once was
I have been called the “N-word” more times over the course of my life than I care to remember, but I started being called “Zio” in only the past few months. Both words have a similarly chilling effect. More than two years after Hamas’s October 7 attack and Israel’s military response in Gaza and elsewhere, “Zio” has become a standard slur for those, like me, who publicly affirm Israel’s right to exist as both a sovereign state and Jewish nation.