California IN BRIEF : HEMET : DMV Drops Recall of ‘JIHAD’ Plate

The Department of Motor Vehicles reversed its suspension of a local youth’s license plates after verifying the owner’s name and finding that the plate was not meant to be offensive to Americans. After a motorist wrote to the DMV in January complaining that the “4 JIHAD” license plate was offensive in light of the Gulf War, the department investigated, said spokesman Bill Gengler. Jihad , an Arabic word taken from the Koran (Islam’s sacred book), has been widely translated to mean “holy war.” The DMV sent Arab-American Jihad Jaffer, 16, a letter saying that the plates were offensive and would have to be returned. But his father protested. Kareem Jaffer said he ordered them to accompany the 1979 BMW purchased for his son’s birthday.