Born into a Palestinian Christian ( Latin rite Catholic ) family in Jifna , Palestine , Odeh immigrated to the United States in 1972 at the age of 28 . He was a lecturer and poet who had published a volume of his poetry , '' Whispers in Exile . '' The Boston office of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee suffered a bombing on August 16 , 1985 , injuring two officers . The Santa Ana bombing came the day after the ending of the Palestine Liberation Front – sponsored Achille Lauro hijacking in which Jewish American Leon Klinghoffer was killed . The night before his death Odeh denied to the media that the PLO was involved in the hijacking and portrayed Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat as being ready to make peace . The day of his murder he had been scheduled to speak at Friday prayer services at a synagogue in Fountain Valley , California
Achille Lauro hijacking
Achille Lauro hijacking
Alex Odeh