When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion, “we were like men dreaming” says the psalmist this Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was widely criticized for comments made at a Zionist Congress, where critics say he dreamed up the idea that a Palestinian leader convinced Hitler that Jews should be exterminated. Leading Israeli historians and survivors’ advocates on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of distorting the Holocaust when he said that Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini “had a central role in fomenting the Final Solution." Netanyahu claimed Hitler wanted to expel Jews but Husseini said he should “burn them.” Historians in Israel, Germany, and throughout the world called that a fabrication and urged Netanyahu to admit he misspoke.

Homily hint: While it is important to see today’s struggles in historical context, we do history no favors when we distort or rewrite the past to serve our present agenda. Peace is never made by pointing fingers at the past. Peace today must be made on today’s terms. Give real peace a chance.

For more on Netanyahu’s remarks, see: Netanyahu’s Holocaust distortion obscures Mufti’s collaboration, say historians; Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu criticized for saying Holocaust was mufti's idea, not Hitler's