Special Memorial
The second annual memorial dinner honoring Arab rights leader Alex Odeh, who was killed by a terrorist bomb in Santa Ana in October of 1985, was held in Orange County on Saturday night. Odeh, a man who preached peace and harmony, should be remembered. This year, however, the community cannot pause and remember his senseless slaying without also recalling the murder last August of Vietnamese magazine publisher Tap Van Pham in Garden Grove.
Pham was also the victim of a firebomb, and some police investigators believe that Pham, like Odeh, was killed by political terrorists. The killers in both cases still have not been caught.
Odeh and Pham came to this country as immigrants. They sought the freedom of their new land to work and speak out without fear. They prized that right and used it to the end. It is fitting that they be remembered.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
