If you’ve ever visited the the Santa Ana Public Library in the Civic Center you probably have noticed a statue of a man holding a dove in front of the main entrance and asked yourself “who is he”? Is it a statue honoring one of Santa Ana’s or Orange County’s forefathers? Is it a statue honoring a historical figure from literature? An author perhaps? No this statue is none of these.
The nine-foot bronze statue that was erected in 1994 honors Alex Odeh, the west-coast regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who was murdered October 11, 1985 in a terrorist attack right here in Santa Ana at 1905 E. 17th Street. Odeh was killed when a bomb triggered as he put the key into his office door exploded. The FBI classified the bombing as a terrorist attack and believed that Jewish militants from the Jewish Defense League (JDL) were probably responsible for the murder. Continue reading