COSTA MESA – Longtime community activist Amin David turned the tables Sunday on the Anti-Defamation League of Orange County and Long Beach.

David took the stage at the group’s annual awards brunch to receive the Leader of Distinction Award award for helping bring together the Latino and Jewish communities, but he deflected credit to the ADL itself.

“You invited me here to honor me, but I come to honor you,” said David, who then referred to more than 60 instances of Jews reaching out to Latinos, as documented in a new book on California Latino politics.

David’s take on the event was one way for him to handle something he’s not fully at ease with.

“I’m not comfortable with all the honoring,” he said in an interview before the event.

The 74-year-old Catholic from Anaheim is best known as the founder of Los Amigos, a group of businesspeople, educators and community leaders that since 1978 has met weekly to discuss problems facing the Latino community – and to address them. When somebody presents a problem to the group, they’re expected to help find a solution.

“If you plead it, you lead it,” is a refrain you’ll hear often at the group’s meetings.

His other activities have included involvement with the Orange County Human Relations Commission, the Orange County Community Housing Corp. and United Way. But the reason he won an award Sunday – amid a list of honorees who otherwise were all Jews – is his work bridging the Jewish and Latino communities.

He helped found Anti-Defamation League’s Jewish Latino Roundtable as a result of anti-Latino sentiment that arose during the contentious 1996 congressional race between Bob Dornan and Loretta Sanchez.

“I went and knocked on (ADL’s) door and they were eager to help,” David said. “And we began working on issues together and came to the understanding that there are similarities in their concerns and those of the Latino community.”

David went on to help establish the Jewish Latino Passover Seder.

“In Latin American countries, there’s an old prejudice that the Jews killed Jesus,” David said. “This is an effort to clear up this misunderstanding.”

David, who owns a plumbing parts business, said that while some of his colleagues enjoy leisure activities like golf, he gets more satisfaction from community activism. And he said that while Orange County grows more diverse, he sees increasing unity among different communities.

“It’s unfortunate that the voices that get heard are the few dissidents,” he said. “In the not-too-distant future, (Latinos) are going to be the largest ethnic group here and we need to be prepared.”

Recipients of the Anti-Defamation League awards

The Anti-Defamation League of Orange County/Long Beach honored the following folks Sunday.

Hetty Goslins and the late Herman Goslins received the Jerry Schwartz Community Service Award. The Netherlands natives – who later moved to Newport Beach – were long active with the Anti-Defamation League as well as groups that support Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

Anne Licht of Huntington Harbour also received the Schwartz Community Service Award. She is a longtime activist and leader in local and national Jewish service groups.

Amin David of Anaheim received the Leader of Distinction Award. He’s the founder of the Los Amigos community activist group and has helped build alliances between the Latino and Jewish communities.

Stefanie and Josh Kaplan of Long Beach received the Young Leadership Award. The couple has worked extensively to battle anti-Semitism; Stefanie also works on children’s issues.

Contact the writer: 714-285-2867 or mwisckol@ocregister.com