Letter From Jane

The Media Reform Conference in Memphis ended with a rousing keynote by Jane Fonda, who was passionate, funny, and radical. She began by asking who in the huge audience of around 3000 people could recognize the name of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. Only around three people raised their hands. She then recounted the sad plight of the young Iraqi girl aged 14 who was raped by two GIs, and then she and her family were murdered by the group of four who had invaded their home. This is a picture of Abeer from her Iraqi ID card issued in 1993.

After killing the family and attempting to burn the house to cover their deeds, Fonda said, the GI's returned to their base for a bar-be-que. Fonda then questioned why this story didn't get the kind of attention that Britany Spears has had with her escapades.

Jane Fonda's speech was an eloquent call to arms for media by and about women. She spoke about founding the Women's Media Center, which is housed in the Empire State Building. http://www.womensmediacenter.com/index.htm
Fonda invited everyone in the audience to stop by.