A Mideast Political Assassination in O.C.?

Alex Odeh was killed when he opened the front door of the Santa Ana offices of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, setting off a pipe bomb. The Oct. 11, 1985, explosion injured seven other people and caused massive damage to the building where Odeh served as the committee’s western regional director. Within a year of the blast, an FBI official attributed the act to Jewish extremists; the agency even identified suspects. Yet to this day, no arrests have been made despite a $1 million reward for information that would help solve the crime. A 9-foot statue of Odeh, dedicated on April 12, 1994, stands in front of Santa Ana’s Main Library at Civic Center Square. Sculpted by Arab-American artist Khalil Bendib, the neoclassical figure wears a toga and clutches a book in one hand; in the other he holds a dove. The late radio personality Casey Kasem, an Arab-American, led the effort to raise funds for the piece, and was on hand for its dedication. It has been vandalized several times.