Please urge your US Senators to take action to obtain justice for Alex Odeh now!
Please urge your US Senators to take action to obtain justice for Alex Odeh now!
On October 11, 1985, Alex Odeh, ADC’s Southern California Regional Director, was killed when a powerful pipe bomb exploded as he entered the ADC office in Santa Ana, California. Alex, a published poet, lecturer of Arabic Language and Middle East history at Coastline College in Santa Ana, and tireless peace activist, dedicated his life to the defense of civil liberties at home, and civil and human rights abroad. The bomb injured several other victims in addition to killing Alex.
It is time to demand that members of the US Senate take action. Please take action now and ask the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing and the Department of Justice to provide information on the FBI investigation.
On the House side, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and Congressman John Conyers, a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to the Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte. The letter requested a hearing to address the unresolved case of Alex Odeh’s murder. The House Judiciary Committee previously held a hearing on the Odeh case in 1986, but has not had a hearing since. The case remains unresolved despite the fact that the FBI called the bombing an act of terrorism and designated an investigation into the bombing as a highest national priority. Thus, the Sanchez and Conyers letter called for a new hearing to find out why justice has been delayed for so long and to finally bring resolution to the case.
Congresswoman Sanchez also sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on November 6, 2013. The letter was jointly signed by Congresswoman Sanchez, Congressman Jim Moran, Congressman Keith Ellison, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.
The time is now for US Senators to follow the lead of their counterparts in the House of Representatives and demand justice for Alex.
The FBI’s investigation into Alex’s murder remains open. There is a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Yet, no arrests have been made–in spite of the fact that the FBI identified members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) as suspects shortly after the attack.
ADC and the Arab American community are deeply troubled that, despite all the available leads to resolving Alex’s murder, the perpetrators have been at large for nearly three decades. ADC continues to seek support for a Congressional Hearing on the Alex Odeh case as well as greater support from the Department of Justice in investigating the case.
Take a stand for Justice Now: Ask your Senators to call on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold new hearings on the issue.