BOMB KILLS LEADER OF U.S. ARAB GROUP

Seven Injured in Explosion at Offices on West Coast — J.D.L. Praises Action

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Transcribed from the clipping

SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 11 (UPI) — A bomb demolished the offices of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee today, killing the organization's regional executive director and injuring seven other people.

The explosion. at 9 A.M.. blew out windows on the second story of the three-floor office building, scattering glass on the sidewalk and in the street, Fire Chief William Reimer said. Alex Odeh, regional director of the Arab group, died in surgery about 11:30 A.M. at Western Medical Center. Mr. Odeh, a resident of Orange, was 37 years old.

The seven people who were injured were treated and released. No one claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Arab-American committee is a Washington-based organization founded in 1980 to combat racial stereotypes that Americans of Arab descent say have led to discrimination against them.

Threats Termed Not Uncommon Joseph Haiek, publisher of the Glendale-based New Circle magazine, which specializes in Arab-American affairs, said it was not uncommon for the organization to receive threats. “You have people that don't want others to talk and they threaten them,” he said.

The Jewish Defense League, often at odds with the group, denied responsibility for the bombing but praised the action. Irv Rubin, chairman of the J.D.L., said Mr. Odeh had been interviewed on television about the slaying Tuesday of Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old tourist from New York City who was held hostage aboard the hijacked ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean.

Israel has linked the hijacking to the Palestine Liberation Organization. “Odeh appeared on television to whitewash the P.L.O. murder of Klinghoffer,” Mr. Rubin said. “No Jew or American should shed one tear for the destruction of a P.L.O. front in Santa Ana or anywhere else in the world.”

Adjacent Buildings Evacuated The police evacuated buildings on both sides of the office building that was bombed, and demolition experts searched for more bombs. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were investigating the explosion, said John Hoos, an F.B.I. spokesman.

Dino Tunoa, a carpenter working in the building next door said he heard the blast and ran into the building to help the victims. “When I ran upstairs, the whole place was torn apart,” Mr. Tunoa said. “When I looked at it, I realized there was an explosion and we started getting everyone out.”

How this transcription was made

No masthead is on the clipping. The paper is not named anywhere in the cut. Attribution rests on Maria's label plus the typography and the NYT house style (two-deck heading rule, 'Mr. Odeh' on second reference, 'P.L.O.' with periods), which match the Dec. 11 1985 NYT clipping on the same slide. — No printed date on the clipping. The dateline reads 'SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 11 (UPI)' and the body says Odeh died 'about 11:30 A.M.' the same day, so a next-morning paper of Oct. 12 is consistent with Maria's label, but the year is nowhere on the cut. — This is the complete clipping. The printed text sets a period rather than a comma after 'The explosion' and after '9 A.M.' — kept as set.

Cite this clipping

"BOMB KILLS LEADER OF U.S. ARAB GROUP," The New York Times, 12 October 1985. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1985-041. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1985-041