Al-Qalam 
Africa4Palestine says Mogoeng has shown disregard for Israel’s well documented violations of international law. It refuted the judge’s claim that people are out to “destroy” him. It described the allegation as “bizarre”. Al-Qalam reports.
The Africa4Palestine human rights organization this week received a letter from the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) confirming that its complaint against Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng for his pro-Israel stance will be probed by the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC).
In the letter written to Muhammed Desai, Director of Africa4Palestine, the JCC confirmed that Gauteng’s deputy judge president Phineas Mojapelo – a member of the committee – has been assigned to determine “the merits of the complaint”.
In the letter seen by Al Qalam, the JCC made it clear that should the complaint prove to be valid – and if there are sanctions imposed – it would not include impeachment.
Two weeks ago Mogoeng came under fire for his comments in support of the Israeli regime from political parties including the ANC and EFF, churches and church organizations, the Muslim Judicial Council, Jamiatul Ulama, Jewish groups, judicial legal experts, intellectuals, trade unions, commentators, civil society organizations and others.
Despite the blistering criticisms, Chief Justice Mogoeng says he would neither retract nor apologise for comments he made about his love for Israel during a webinar with The Jerusalem Post hosted recently.
Mogoeng lamented South Africa’s adoption of a lopsided attitude towards the Israel-Palestinian conflict and said it would have greater influence if it displayed a more balanced approach.
Apologise
Following the firestorm of criticism, Mogoeng, speaking at a recent virtual Africa prayer meeting, said: “Even if 50 million people can march every day for the next 10 years for me to retract or apologise for what I said, I will not do it. I will never say I hate anybody, or any nation. I will never. I love everybody. I love Israel, I love the Jews, I love Palestinians… “
“I said in that webinar, those that are busy plotting against me right now, even to kill me, those that will plot even to destroy and kill me in 10 years time, they are already forgiven. I meant it. Everybody who is insulting me, everybody who is lying about me, whether Christian or not Christian, I love you and I forgive you. May God have mercy on you. May… reveal the truth to you.”
“So, there will, therefore be no retraction, there is nothing to retract. There will be no apology. Not even this political apology that ‘in case I have offended anybody without meaning to offend them for that reason…’. I will not apologise for anything. There is nothing to apologise for, there is nothing to retract.”
Meanwhile Africa4Palestine hit back, saying that Mogoeng’s allegations that people were plotting “to destroy” him and even to “kill” him, was simply bizarre.
In a statement, it said: “We deny any of the Chief Justice’s accusations and insist, as our submission makes clear, that he is in violation of the JSC code of conduct. In addition, he conflates the Biblical Land of Israel with the Modern State of Israel created in 1948. And, finally, he disregards Israel’s well documented violations of international law”.
