ALEX ODEH

Alexander Michel Odeh (اسكندر ميكل عودة; April 4, 1944 – October 11, 1985) was a Palestinian American civil-rights leader, poet, educator, and tireless advocate for Palestinian human rights and interfaith unity among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Born into a Christian family in the town of Jifna, Palestine, Odeh grew up amid the 1948 Nakba and later Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, experiences that shaped his lifelong commitment to justice, dignity, and peace.

Odeh studied at Birzeit University and An-Najah University in the West Bank, then economics at the University of Cairo, before immigrating to the United States in 1972 at the age of 28. He earned a master’s degree in political science from California State University, Fullerton, where he also taught Arabic, Middle East history, and politics, and later served as an elected member of the Academic Senate at Coastline Community College. A gifted poet, he published Whispers in Exile, a collection devoted to the Palestinian struggle for human rights.

From the moment he arrived in the U.S., Odeh became a powerful advocate not only for Palestinians but for Arab Americans broadly. In the early 1980s, Odeh became the West Coast Regional Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), founded in 1980 to combat anti-Arab racism and defend civil rights. Under his leadership, the ADC quickly emerged as a prominent civil-rights organization, challenging biased media coverage, confronting stereotypes, and fostering dialogue across religious and cultural divides. 

On October 11, 1985, Odeh was assassinated by a pipe bomb detonated at the ADC’s Santa Ana office as he arrived for work. He had received numerous death threats due to his advocacy, including from extremist groups, which he reported to authorities. The day before his murder, he had given a television interview promoting peace and understanding and was scheduled to speak at a nearby synagogue the following day. His killing was part of a broader wave of coordinated attacks against ADC offices nationwide. The case remains unresolved..