‘Appalled’: Pro-Palestine activists protest outside Jewish singer Deborah Conway concert in Melbourne
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied the grounds outside Jewish singer-songwriter Deborah Conway’s concert on Thursday night after failing in their mission to get the performance cancelled.
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied the grounds outside Jewish singer-songwriter Deborah Conway’s concert on Thursday night after failing in their mission to get the performance cancelled.
About 30 people gathered outside Altona City Theatre in Melbourne’s southwest and staged a protest an hour before Conway was due to take the stage at 7.30pm.
The group planted Palestinian flags and pictures of children, along with the words “killed by Israeli”.
Many protesters held signs reading “Free Palestine” and “What if they were your kids? Or white kids”. Organisers said Conway had been “unapologetic about her support for Israel” and in an interview with Radio National Breakfast in December “sought to downplay the impact of the war on young Palestinian children and claimed that responsibility for their deaths lay with Hamas”.
Hobsons Bay 4 Palestine spokesman Nat Tunbridge said: “As residents, we’re appalled that the council would invite Deborah Conway, who has sought to normalise the ongoing genocide enacted by Israel against Palestinians, to perform here.”
Sarah Baarini, from the same activist group, said the gathering was being held to mourn innocent children. “Supporters of Israel like Conway try to date the conflict from October 7 to create legitimacy for the genocide that’s taking place,” she said.
“But Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians dates back to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 and the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Palestinians. We’re gathering in grief and solidarity to mourn the innocent children that have been killed … And to comprehensively reject the view that those deaths are in any way justifiable because genocide can never be justified.”
A website dedicated to boycotting the event offered residents a pre-written message to send to Hobsons Bay City Council.
The email template stated that “the inclusion of Deborah Conway in the program poses a threat to the safety and harmony of the municipality, which must be safeguarded at all costs”.
Before the show, the Jewish singer-songwriter said she would not be silenced.
“I am not prepared to shut up and go away, I think that would be a shameful thing to do,” Conway told The Australian.
The under two-hour performance, starring Conway and her musical and life partner Willy Zygier, is part of Hobsons Bay annual performing arts program.
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