‘If I have to pick a hill to die on, exposing antisemitism among ‘the good’ is the one’

Deborah Conway says she became “a poster girl” for the 600 Jewish artists who were doxed last February, with the Prime Minister repeatedly citing her as an example of those whose personal details were splashed on social media. 

“That said, I was largely unaffected by the doxing as I was already out there as a Jewish artist,” she tells The Jewish Independent. “I was interviewed on ABC two months earlier by Patricia Karvelas to discuss the equivalence, or not, between my husband and I wearing blue and white, a Magen David and a kippa when we performed at a Mushroom Records concert and the three actors who wore keffiyehs at a Sydney Theatre Company play. 

“I thought the issue was interesting and could provoke robust discussion, but my interlocutor was more interested in talking about Gaza. It was a combative conversation and in the cut-and-thrust I said something that has been taken out of context and has put a target on my back. By the time the doxing happened, I was already demonised. I went from being deified to vilified. It was Ground Zero for my fall from grace.

“Being accused of supporting genocide, of feeling glee at the suffering of children, is devastating. But as the movement collected more scalps, I realised it was a tactic - Jew equals child-murderer - straight out of the ancient blood-libel playbook.” 

Conway believes the “antisemitism meltdown” in this country contradicts the claim that Australia is a multicultural success. “That said, I suspect it’s less widespread than many think. I regard the ugly protests, the worst excesses, as coming from a small minority. I believe the large majority has become disgusted and is wondering what’s happened to the tolerant fair-go country they knew.