Odeh Family Hails Grand Jury Probe of Anti-Arab Crimes

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles is investigating alleged criminal activities against “the Arab community by Jewish extremist groups,” Assistant FBI Director Oliver B. (Buck) Revell said Friday.

Though Revell refused to speak specifically about the 1985 bombing death of Arab rights leader Alex Odeh in Santa Ana, his comments at the annual convention of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington came in response to a question about grand jury activity concerning the death of Odeh, the ADC’s West Coast regional director.

“It’s really good to hear that good news,” said Odeh’s widow, Norma, who was among those present when Revell spoke. “I really do hope they do something and mean what they say. My kids and I will be very happy when this case is done.”

The Odeh children are Helena, 9; Samya, 6, and Suzanne, 3.

‘Significant Break’

“The ADC,” its spokesman Faris Bouhafa said, “is obviously very pleased to hear that after over a year there appears to be a significant break in the Alex Odeh investigation. It’s my understanding that grand juries are only convened once the federal attorney’s office feels there is enough suspicion to warrant gathering physical evidence. . . .

“From what I can gather, they are gathering evidence toward an indictment.”

In the months after Odeh’s death, his relatives and the ADC publicly questioned whether the FBI was vigorously pursuing the investigation.

During his address, Revell also said: “I remain confident we will resolve the Alex Odeh case and bring those responsible to justice.”

“Our patience and your patience is paying off,” he said at the luncheon in Washington. “I promise we will not rest until we have concluded our duties and the murder of Alex Odeh is solved and those individuals responsible pay the full penalty of the law.”

The Odeh bombing already is under investigation by a Los Angeles-based anti-terrorist task force that includes investigators from the FBI, Los Angeles police, Los Angeles County sheriff’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office.

Sami Odeh of Orange said in a telephone interview that today would have been his brother Alex’s 43rd birthday.

“I’m gratified that the investigation of my brother’s murder is still going on and leads are being followed,” he said. “There couldn’t be any better birthday gift than if the FBI can put his killer behind bars.”

Palestine-born Alex Odeh was killed on Oct. 11, 1985, when a bomb tore through the front door of the ADC’s Santa Ana office as he arrived for work. The explosion came 12 hours after Odeh had appeared on a late-night television news program to condemn terrorism and defend PLO leader Yasser Arafat as “a man of peace.”

At one point, the FBI attributed the bombing to the Jewish Defense League, a group originally formed to combat anti-Semitism. But the FBI later backed off, saying instead that “Jewish extremist elements” were suspected.

On Wednesday, the FBI arrested a 59-year-old New York man, believed to be a member of the JDL, in connection with an investigation of terrorist incidents directed at Soviet activities in the United States. However, the suspect, Murray Young, was booked only on possession of an illegal handgun silencer.

At Young’s East Meadow, N.Y., home, the FBI also confiscated evidence “of recent bombings and other terrorist acts which have previously been connected in this investigation to the JDL,” according to federal court documents in New York.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Charles Rose in New York said Thursday that the Odeh case was “a subject of the investigation.”

However, spokesmen for the FBI and U.S. attorney’s offices in New York and Los Angeles stressed that they had “no physical evidence” to link Murray to the Odeh bombing.

They said an FBI crime lab analysis will be made of evidence confiscated at Young’s home, including explosive powder and what appear to be JDL documents. That material will be compared to evidence found at the scene of other terrorist bombings, including the Odeh bombing, FBI spokesman Joseph Valiquette said Friday.

Irv Rubin of Los Angeles, national chairman of the Jewish Defense League, said Thursday that Young is not a member of that organization.

“Let them investigate all they want,” Rubin said. “I had nothing to do with it, and my organization had nothing to do with it.”

Times staff writer Victor Hull in Washington contributed to this story.