Turned Me Into a Monster: Singer on Living With Anti-Semitism in Australia

Singer-songwriter Deborah Conway—who was barred from performing at some concerts—reveals how much anti-Semitism has impacted her life.

Speaking to The Epoch Times on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, the singer of, “It’s Only the Beginning,” says her public persona had been transformed into a “demonic character.”

“I think what’s happened is I’ve been created by the people who hate me, and I don’t think they really understand what I think,” she said.

“I think they’ve turned me into some kind of monstrous, demonic character who they want to hate.

“But it’s not a reflection of what I think, or who I am.”

Conway was doxed in February 2024, along with about 600 Jewish artists, leading to her personal details being published on social media.

In an interview with The Jewish Independent on Nov. 14, 2024, Conway said the incident stemmed from an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

A year earlier on Dec. 15, 2023, Conway commented that Hamas was hiding behind its own civilians in its war on Hamas, while also saying casualty figures from Gaza could not be verified given official statistics were controlled by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas.

Conway said the interview was “ground zero for my fall from grace.”

She said she was subsequently cancelled from a gig at the Byron Writers Festival. The Epoch Times has contacted the Byron Writers Festival and ABC for comment.

Conway also said a performance at The Hobart Playhouse was disrupted by protestors.

She says there’s also been vandalism directed at her. In Melbourne she says posters of her have been torn off walls, while in Sydney, graffiti reading: “D. Conway is a Zionist Stooge” was sprayed outside a venue.

It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration-led Middle East peace deal will have a normalising effect on social tensions overseas.