Birth: NULL/NULL/1951 Death:NULL/NULL/1994
Born in the Old City of Jerusalem in 1951 to a family that was forced to leave their home in Lifta in 1948; brother of Yacoub Ahmad Odeh; joined the Palestinian movement in 1968; the family home in Sheikh Jarrah was demolished by Israeli occupation forces in 1969; traveled to the USA in 1970 where he planned to purse his studies in Engineering; became active in the Organization of Arab Students in North America in 1974; was one of the initiators for the establishment of the GUPS in the USA; was a founding member of the Arab American Community Center (AACC) in Chicago in 1982 and became its Exec. Director in 1985; established the Chicago chapter of GUPS in 1986; became a member of the Illinois Voters for Middle East Peace in 1988; was a member of the Arab American Commission; worked actively in building bridges between the Arab-American, African-America, Latino and Native American communities in Chicago from 1988 until his death; was a PNC member from 1988-94; became Board member of the Coalition for Peace and Against Racism in 1991; returned to Palestine on 10 Oct. 1994 after spending 24 years in exile; died of a heart attack in Jerusalem on 11 Oct. 1994; in his honor the Chicago City Council named the 63rd St. on the Southwest side of Chicago after him in 1996.
