About Alex Odeh Day

DESCRIPTION:

SEEKING JUSTICE FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF A CIVIL RIGHTS. ADVOCATE:
ALEX ODEH DAY

Alex Odeh, an American human rights activist of Palestinian origin and the regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), was assassinated when the group's offices in Santa Ana, California, were bombed on October 11, 1985. The FBI quickly identified the terrorist group, the Jewish Defense League (JDL), as the primary suspect, linking the attack to a series of other bombings committed by the group during the 1970s and 1980s.

Odeh’s assassination is believed to be in retaliation for his public defense of Palestinians following the 1985 hijacking of the ship the Achille Lauro. As the event became known, Israeli spokespeople immediately and falsely accused the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) of the hijacking. However, after weeks of investigation and based on overwhelming evidence, it became clear the PLO had nothing to do with it. Odeh appeared in national media and on national television, refuting that the hijacking was a Palestinian-led operation. He was assassinated shortly thereafter in 1985.

Odeh would be proven correct in 1992. The PLO was not responsible for the Achille Lauro hijacking nor the death of disabled American Leon Klinghoffer during the action. This fact became known in the year of the publication of the exposé book "Profits of War" (page 122) by former Israeli Defense Forces Senior Intelligence Officer Ari Ben-Menashe. Ben-Menashe had direct knowledge of the event and made it clear that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) had nothing to do with the Achille Lauro hijacking. It was, he disclosed, a black flag operation by Israeli intelligence designed to place blame and delegitimize the PLO. At the time, the Palestinian cause was gaining sympathy, and international support for Israel's actions was waning. Israel reversed this trend by presenting the hijacking as a terrorist act by Palestinians.

ESCAPING JUSTICE

Robert and Rochelle Manning, Keith Fuchs and Andy Green are the people suspected of the bombing and Odeh's assassination. The Mannings were known to the FBI as JDL terrorists. Individually and through associations, the group amassed a significant list of attacks against Arab Americans and related organizations in the United States beginning in the late 1960s.

After the Odeh assassination, the suspects fled the United States for Israel and became part of the West Bank settler movement. Mr. Manning was extradited to the United States in 1993 from Israel and was sentenced to 30 years for an unrelated terrorist attack. The US Government paroled him in October 2023. His wife died in an Israeli prison, also incarcerated for unrelated terrorist acts. Fuchs and Green have never faced justice and continue to live free in Israel. Green, also known as Baruch Ben Yosef, is a leading figure in the blockades preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza (a war crime) during the current genocide.

Despite solid evidence and their identification as the terrorists responsible for the assassination, none have been charged with Odeh’s murder.

ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF A US CONGRESSMAN

Following the assassination of Odeh, the JDL remained active in the United States. In 2001, the group bombed newly elected California Congressman Darryl Issa’s offices. He, too, is of Arab descent and, like Odeh (and 35% of Arab Americans), Christian. Issa survived, became a successful tech entrepreneur and continues to serve in the House of Representatives.

The ADC established Alex Odeh Day to honor his legacy as they seek accountability for his murder and recognition of his contributions to human rights.