ADC Press Release

FBI Arrests Jewish Terrorists, Suspects in Alex Odeh Murder

Washington, DC, December 12 --The FBI today arrested two men on suspicion that they were preparing attacks against Muslim and Arab-American organizations in the United States. Irving David Rubin and Earl Leslie Krugel are also considered suspects in the 1985 murder of Alex Odeh, West Coast Regional Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). Irv Rubin, 56, is the Chairman of the "Jewish Defense League" (JDL) and another JDL member, Earl Krugel, 59, were jailed this morning at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.

The three were arrested following attempts to buy what has been described as "bomb-making materiel." The FBI suspects that they were preparing attacks on Muslim and Arab-American groups. The JDL was founded by the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane in the 1970s. The group was linked to a series of violent attacks on various targets in the 70s and 80s, including Arab-American organizations such as ADC. Kahane moved to Israel, where he advocated the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel.

ADC has been raising the issue of Odeh's murder with the FBI and Justice Department in recent weeks, including directly with Attorney General John Ashcroft. ADC hopes that the arrests of Rubin and Krugel lead to the prosecution of those responsible for this heinous act of terrorism.

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
4201 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20008, U.S.A.
Tel: (202) 244-2990, Fax: (202) 244-3196
E-mail: adc@adc.org
Web : www.adc.org