Palestine (MNN) — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled it has jurisdiction to hear certain criminal cases in Palestinian territory. The Human Rights Watch applauded the move, saying it might finally bring justice for Palestinian victims.
Jonathan Kuttab, a human rights lawyer on the board of Bethlehem Bible College, says the ICC deals with war crimes. “Crimes like apartheid, crimes like gross violations of human rights – in the past, this used to be dealt with on an ad hoc basis, like the Rwanda trial, the Yugoslavia trial. But it became a permanent court. And many people think this is a wonderful thing. Because it’s a control on the excesses of governments and armies and individuals.”
Controversy
Kuttab acknowledges the controversy of international authorities overseeing government activity. “It’s a tricky question. And I understand that Christians have different points of view on this issue of how far can we be involved.”
But Palestinian Christians believe this kind of oversight can result in a more just world. Kuttab says, “We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘May Your will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.’ If we’re part of a movement to try and make the world a little better, a little more just, having a little bit more respect for human rights, then then we want these organizations like the United Nations and the ICC to be active.”
Pray Christians in Palestine and around the world would reflect the love and justice of Jesus Christ in a world that often lacks both.
The header photo shows the ICC headquarters in the Netherlands. (Hypergio, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
