Distinguished Alumnus Award
Honors excellence in vocation.

1999 Recipient
Jonathan Kuttab

For your faithful service to God through your work as an attorney, non-profit advocate and peacemaker in Jerusalem, the Messiah College Alumni Association is pleased to honor you, Jonathan Kuttab, with the 1999 Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Having grown up in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, you graduated with honors and a history degree from Messiah College in 1973. You then pursued your Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School, and practiced law on Wall Street, New York from 1977-1979. But your roots drew you back to your homeland, where you established your private legal practice in Jerusalem in 1980.

During the course of the past 20 years, you have worked tirelessly for peace and justice in the Holy Land, providing a Christian presence as the "salt of the earth" in the highly volatile and contentious West Bank region. You have co-founded both Al-Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists, and the Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners. You have also established a number of non-profit development corporations. In fact, you even pioneered the idea of structuring these organizations as non-profit rather than "charitable societies" to avoid the West Bank's stringent and discretionary regulation requirements. Through your legal representation, you have also assisted many groups in maneuvering within the restrictive legal regulations in Israel and the West Bank.

Among your many distinguished honors, you served as a member of the training committee and legal advisor's committee of the peace negotiating team, and as head of the legal committee of the Palestinian Peace Negotiating Team at the Cairo Agreement in 1994. You have written and lectured extensively on the legal situation in the Occupied Territories, including co-authoring a book entitled, The West Bank and the Rule of Law.

Jonathan, as a proponent of Palestinian Liberation Theology, you have stood for Christianity and Christ's Kingdom in this region of the world through your involvement in Bethlehem Bible College, the Middle East Council of Churches, and St. George's Cathedral. Married to Messiah alumna Beth Heisey 72, you are a dedicated father to two elementary-age children.

Looking back over your many accomplishments and the vision which has so clearly guided the efforts of your life, we see you as a great example to all Messiah alumni, extending God's grace and peace to a World in need. We are honored to present to you, Jonathan Kuttab, this 1999 Distinguished Alumnus Award.