EUSA has launched an investigation after the newly elected EUSA LGBT+ convener caused a firestorm by using the anti-Semitic term ‘Zio’ in a tweet last week.

Ada J. Wells, a Computer Science student, used the term to refer to EUSA presidential candidate, Theo Robertson-Bonds, during the Edinburgh University question time which took place on March 4th.

‘Zio’ is not just a shortened form of ‘zionist’, but is commonly used by the KKK among other groups as an anti-semitic slur. Ada has since apologised and deleted the tweet in question.

A twitter storm erupted soon after.

Yesterday EUSA replied to a number of people who had tweeted them in regards to the tweet in question and noted that they were “currently investigating”.

Jonny Ross-Tatam, EUSA President has said:

“EUSA has been notified by several students of comments on twitter by a newly elected student representative. We take any such allegations extremely seriously and are investigating the comments made.”

Wells has since apologized after it was pointed out that the term was not short for ‘Zionist’, which they thought it was.

Speaking to The Tab, Ada said: “It is obvious to anyone that Jews and Zionists are distinct groups – my grandmother was a Christian Zionist and close friends of mine are Jewish and pro-Palestinian. I was not aware that the term “Zio” was not simply a shortened from of Zionist, and I apologised when I found this out. Theo and I have discussed it and there is no animosity over it.”

The Israeli Engagement Society were contacted, but declined to comment, preferring to stay out of it.

Theo Robertson-Bonds, the EUSA presidential candidate who the tweet was directed at has said: “The tweet itself was grotesquely offensive, and the choice of such a vile slur to cover my views on the complex topic of the Israel-Palestine conflict was reprehensible. Ada apologised publicly, and I respect that, but more individuals have said similar remarks and gotten away with it.”

“It is one thing to have strong views on Israel-Palestine, but it’s another to express them in that way, and it’s clear a number of students with hardline positions have done so. They should look at themselves, their choice of arguments, and their own positions very closely, as this would be even less tolerated in the world outside of student politics.”