Status Quo and Monument of Reconciliation Frameworks
Introduction
The purpose of this case study is to analyze the situation of and disseminate information about a monument to Palestinian American activist Alex Odeh. This case study is part of a broader effort to engage in conversations regarding monuments and their significance.
Alex Odeh is a celebrated figure in the Arab American community for advocating interfaith unity and peace. The Alex Odeh Memorial Statue is a Monument of Reconciliation – a monument that reconciles with historical traumas. This monument addresses the historical trauma of discrimination and hate crimes targeting Arab Americans, including the bombing that resulted in the death of Alex Odeh. Odeh’s legacy lives on in Santa Ana and Orange County through the advocacy efforts of the local Arab American community that has been successful in influencing policy that elevates Arab American voices and stories.
Section 1: Background
1.1. Historical Context
Alexander Michel Odeh ( اسكندرمیكلعودة ; April 4th, 1944 – October 11th, 1985) was a Palestinian American activist. He was born in Jifna, Mandatory Palestine, and emigrated to the United States in 1972 at the age of 28. He earned a master’s degree in political science at California State University Fullerton and was an active civil rights advocate as well as a published poet. He believed in “fostering interfaith unity” among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities (CAIR-CA 2024). After obtaining his master’s degree, Odeh was hired by the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). The ADC was established in 1980 by James Arbourzek, a former Senator of South Dakota, to protect the rights of Arab Americans and combat anti-Arab discrimination in the United States (Habib 2016). Odeh became the ADC’s West Coast Regional Director in the early 1980s.
On October 11th, 1985, Odeh entered the ADC office at 1905 East 17th Street in Santa Ana, California. His entry triggered an explosive device that caused significant damage to the building and injured several bystanders. Alex Odeh died shortly after the explosion at a nearby hospital. This was not an isolated incident, as ADC offices in Boston and Washington, D.C., were also targeted with violence in 1985. The explosion that claimed Odeh’s life was categorized as a domestic terrorist crime by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in February 1986. To this day, no one has been arrested or charged for Alex Odeh’s murder and it remains an active FBI investigation.
At a congressional hearing in July of 1986, then Assistant Executive FBI Director Oliver B. Revell stated that suspects had been identified, but there was insufficient evidence to bring charges. Revell described the suspects as “Jewish extremist elements” and refused to connect them directly to the Jewish Defense League (JDL) (Sasaki 1986). The Jewish Defense League is a “radical organization that preaches a violent form of anti-Arab, Jewish nationalism” founded in 1968 that has “orchestrated countless terrorist attacks in the U.S. and abroad” (Southern Poverty Law Center n.d.). The JDL denied involvement in Odeh’s assassination. Both the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League denounced the murder. Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, extended condolences to the family of Alex Odeh.
Various investigative press reports have stated that the FBI identified several members of the Jewish Defense League as suspects. In 1988, the Los Angeles Times reported that JDL member Robert Steven Manning was a prime suspect in two bombing incidents, including the one that resulted in the death of Alex Odeh (Ramos 1988). Three other JDL members, Rochelle Manning, Alex Green, and Keith Israel Fuchs, were also identified as suspects in the bombing that killed Odeh (CAIR-CA 2024). They relocated to Israel shortly after Odeh’s death, interfering with the FBI’s ability to investigate without cooperation from the Israeli government. None of these individuals have been charged with Alex Odeh’s murder. However, all have faced investigation and charges for several other violent and extremist hate crimes since 1985.
The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee continues to pay tribute to Odeh and demand that those responsible for his death be brought to justice (ADC Organization 2008). The unresolved status of the case is seen as a social injustice by Odeh’s family, community leaders, and activists (Hanania 2015).
1.2. The Life of Alex Odeh
There are many who praise Alex Odeh’s work and dedication to the community. ADC National Executive Director, Abed Ayoub, stated:
Alex dedicated his life to ADC and social justice. He always fought for the truth, and did it eloquently. He paid with his life for his commitment to justice and peace. Today, we celebrate his life, his work and his legacy, and recommit ourselves to getting justice for him and his family (ADC Organization 2023).
To this day, Odeh remains an inspiration to Arab and Palestinian Americans for his demonstrated resilience and dedication. After joining the ADC in 1982, Odeh quickly became a leader in the fight against biased news reporting and Arab stereotypes. He also published a book of poetry devoted to the Palestinian struggle for human rights titled Whispers in Exile. Throughout his career as an activist, Odeh led a valiant effort to bring Christians, Muslims, and Jewish people together in southern California. Odeh was due to deliver a speech at the Congregation B’nai Tzadek, a Jewish synagogue nearby his office, on the day of his murder.
Prior to the 1985 bombing, Odeh had been the target of threats against his life and safety due to his support for Arab and Palestinian American rights. He was an effective civil rights warrior who did not allow intimidation to interfere with his work. The death of Alex Odeh stands as a warning about the danger of prejudice and the prevalence of hate crimes. It is critical to keep in mind the circumstances surrounding the terrorist bombing that claimed Odeh’s life, including the assaults against other ADC offices across the nation. The ADC was the target of a coordinated attack by anti-Arab terrorist group(s) in 1985.
During the 1986 House Judiciary Committee hearing on the case, Alex Odeh’s wife, Norma Odeh, described him as a support organizer with a special aptitude for uniting people of different races and religions to work together for the welfare of all mankind (ADC Organization 2023).
Section 2: The Alex Odeh Memorial Statue
2.1. Creation and Dedication
The Alex Odeh Memorial Statue is a public artwork in a public space. It was created by Algerian American political cartoonist and sculptor Khalil Bendib. Bendib viewed Alex Odeh as a “tireless worker for peace and harmony,” and called the process of creating the statue a “cathartic experience, a way of coming to terms with our pain and tragic loss” (Landsbaum 1994). The artist proposed the idea for the statue to Odeh’s widow in 1992. After gaining her approval, Bendib approached well-known broadcaster and Arab American Casey Kasem for assistance in raising funds for its creation. A steering committee was then formed to lead the effort. Kasem felt strongly about the importance of the project, stating:
The statue is important to remind people that this country has the First Amendment. This is a country where you can say what you believe, [and we] all have a responsibility as citizens in this country to speak out (Nalick 1994).
Bendib donated his time in creating the statue, and Kasem helped raise funds for the bronze and casting process (McDonnell Twair 1994). The committee offered the bronze sculpture to the city of Santa Ana at a meeting with the City Council in September 1993 where it was unanimously accepted (Nalick 1993).
The statue depicts a neoclassical bronze rendering of Odeh wearing a robe, holding a book in his right hand and a dove in the other. The three commemorative plaques at the pedestal are in three languages, including English, Spanish and Arabic, in reference to the communities that comprise the City of Santa Ana and its surrounding area.
Over 500 people, including local politicians and community activists, gathered to witness the dedication of the Alex Odeh Memorial Statue in front of the Santa Ana Central Library on April 10, 1994. At the dedication ceremony Bendib stated:
In the current climate of rising acrimony and xenophobia toward immigrants, this statue will remind the world what America has always stood for: peace, tolerance and harmony… It will remind us that an attack on any particular group is an attack on all groups (Landsbaum 1994).
In an interview with the Monuments Toolkit, Alex Odeh’s eldest daughter, Helena Odeh, shared that the dedication ceremony was also attended by some individuals who held negative views of her father and sought to express them. One person approached Odeh’s family members and made hateful comments regarding the value of Alex Odeh’s life and work. This level of hatred was shocking to those who knew Odeh as “a man of peace” who sought only to unite people across belief systems (Helena Odeh, interview, March 2025).
2.2. The Statue Since Creation
Controversy surrounding the statue was reported as soon as two days following its dedication ceremony in April 1994. The then national chairman of the Jewish Defense League, Irv Rubin, stated he would complain to the Santa Ana City Council about the statue and stage a protest with other JDL members (Romney 1994). Rubin’s stated issue with the statue was the portrayal of Odeh as a man of peace. He believed Odeh was supportive of violence against Jewish people, although there is no evidence to this fact.
In October 1996 and February 1997, red paint was thrown on the Alex Odeh Memorial Statue. The police investigated both events as hate crimes. It is unknown who committed the crimes. The Arab American community had no doubt the vandalism was done in an effort to intimidate. Micheal Shehadeh, regional director for the ADC in February 1997, stated, “For some group of people to try and dehumanize and smear our icons, such as Alex’s statue, means a great deal: that they don’t believe in the ideals of the United States and living in harmony” (Noah 1997). Yousef Elia Haddad, President of the Arab-American Democratic Club in February 1997, shared he “believes that the vandals ‘want[ed] to spread fear in our hearts so that we don’t speak our opinion’” (ibid.).
During a 2016 anti-Trump protest in the city of Santa Ana, California, a handwritten cardboard sign that read “NO ONE IS ILLEGAL” was propped on the statue of Alex Odeh (San Román 2019). The placement of the sign at the Odeh Memorial Statue is likely in reference to his personal history as well as his dedication to fighting xenophobia.
Within the last five years, the dove of peace held in Odeh’s left hand was separated from the body of the statue. It is not officially known how this occurred, but many strongly believe it was intentionally broken off as an act of vandalism (Helena Odeh, interview, March 2025). The dove was subsequently found in a nearby location and the statue was restored.
To this day, the life and work of Alex Odeh is celebrated in gatherings around the statue erected in his honor (ibid.).
2.3. Location: Main Santa Ana Public Library
The Alex Odeh Memorial Statue stands outside the Main Santa Ana Public Library in the Orange County Civic Center in downtown Santa Ana. The library is located within an area with the Santa Ana City Hall, Superior and Appellate Courts, the Orange County Public Defender’s office, and other government offices.
The Main Santa Ana Public Library is the city’s oldest library. The library was founded with the goal of improving the dissemination of knowledge in the area. The value of preserving information sources and making them accessible to patrons has always been at the core of libraries. In addition to serving this function, the Santa Ana Library has evolved to place a greater emphasis on the importance of reserving a central communal space and the creation of new ideas between neighbors within that space. In the City of Santa Ana, the library has influenced regional culture, created thriving neighborhoods, and raised aspirational leaders. The key to providing quality service to patrons has been creativity and innovation in the creation of programs for civic involvement, education, and cultural enrichment.
The decision to locate the Alex Odeh Memorial Statue outside the Main Santa Ana Public Library was determined at the time the statue was accepted by the City. At the City Council meeting, Artist Khalil Bendib shared that he found the library location especially appropriate as Odeh was a teacher and a poet (Nalick 1993). These aspects of Odeh’s work are referenced in the memorial statue through the book he is holding in his right hand.
The city of Santa Ana is a predominantly Latinx community. However, it is located only a few miles away from the city of Anaheim, home to the Little Arabia district. The Little Arabia district was designated in 2022 by the Anaheim City Council and is the first Arab American district in the United States. The designation comes after decades of effort from Anaheim’s Arab American community. The Arab American Civic Council (AACC) celebrates Little Arabia as “the center for Orange County’s Arab American community” (AACC 2022).
Santa Ana’s connection to Alex Odeh begins with his employment at the ADC West Coast office located within the city. It was at this office that he was fatally injured by a terrorist bombing in 1985. The city continues to celebrate Odeh today as a civil rights advocate and peaceful unifier. As the Alex Odeh Memorial Statue stands within the Orange County (OC) Civic Center, the celebration of Alex Odeh’s life and work can be seen as representative of the values of Orange County at large, beyond the city of Santa Ana. The memorial’s placement in such a prominent location at the center of city and county government is significant.
As is common for urban civic centers, the OC Civic Center has been at the center of local activism over the years. In 2000, Arab Americans gathered at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in the OC Civic Center to pray for peace and protest Israeli violence against Palestinians. The protest came “on the heels of a week of escalating violence” in October of 2000 (Mena 2000). In October 2023, a rally in support of Palestinian lives in Gaza was held at the OC Civic Center. The presence of the statue of Odeh, a Palestinian American activist for Arab American civil rights, was no doubt meaningful for Santa Ana and Orange County activists.
Section 3: Framework – Status Quo
The Alex Odeh Memorial Statue remains in its location. The Monuments Toolkit Team defines status quo as “The act of inaction. Allowing the monument to exist without any type of intervention.” Status quo is its current status and deemed appropriate by the City of Santa Ana.
The monument is also a Monument of Reconciliation— a monument that reconciles with historical traumas. This monument addresses the historical trauma of discrimination and hate crimes targeting Arab Americans, including the bombing that resulted in the death of Alex Odeh.
The work that Alex Odeh dedicated his life to, before and during his tenure with the ADC, is not finished. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee continues to advocate for Arab American civil rights while committed to the “civil and human rights of all Americans and to opposing discrimination, bigotry and racism in any form” (ibid.). The death of Odeh at the Santa Ana ADC Office in 1985 is an important part of the history of Arab and Palestinian American civil rights. According to the ADC, the fact that the 1985 bombing campaign that resulted in Odeh’s death remains an unsolved case is an injustice to the Arab American community.
For a comprehensive discussion of violence against Arab Americans in the United States, please reference Underreported Under Threat: Hate Crime in the United States and the Targeting of Arab Americans 1991-2016 published by the Arab American Institute Foundation (https://www.aaiusa.org/library/under-reported-under-threat).
Section 4: Conclusion
This case study aimed to highlight the historical context and meaning surrounding the Alex Odeh Memorial Statue located in Santa Ana, California. The monument remains in place in front of the Main Santa Ana Public Library in the Orange County Civic Center at the time of writing.
The monument continues to reach people, as Helena Odeh shared:
At least once a month there is someone that will reach out to me and say “I just learned about your dad. I saw this statue and I never knew what it was. Thank you. Your dad stood for so much.” And it is so heartwarming to know that even after almost 40 years, my dad is still making an impact on people’s lives (Interview, March 2025).
As the civic center continues to be a space for community gathering, the Alex Odeh Memorial Statue will stand amidst the action symbolizing Odeh’s fight for peace, unity, and civil rights.
To hear more from Helena Odeh regarding the memorial statue of her father, listen to The Monumental Podcast, “The Alex Odeh Memorial Statue: A Monument of Reconciliation” here: https://worldheritageusa.org/monumentstoolkit/podcast/.
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