The legendary human rights lawyer Michael Ratner’s life is exemplary for Americans seeking to undo an outmoded view of Israel. “I thought of [Israel] as the home of my people. I had my bedroom ceiling painted with the seven wonders of the world and a huge map of Israel. I had no idea how my view of Israel would change later in life,” Ratner relates in his posthumous memoir, Moving the Bar.

Jody Sokolower’s new book challenges the distorted picture of Palestinians her students had gained from media. “The struggle to bring Palestine into our classrooms is as important to freeing Palestine as all our other acts of solidarity,” Sokolower writes.

After every ceasefire, Rana Shubair tries to imagine leading a normal life. In Gaza, the bar is set low and means not living under raining bombs. “Mama, who broke our house?” the neighbor’s three-year-old asked. His mother ignored his question. The following day the toddler announced, pleased that he had figured it out, “The Israelis broke our house.”

Over the past century more than 20 international commissions have been convened on the question of Palestine, Dr. Lori Allen uses them as the basis for her investigation into Palestinian political history.

Over 16,000 artists, including hundreds of Palestinian artists, six Academy Award winners, and eight Pulitzer Prize winning writers, have signed a letter denouncing Israel’s apartheid system and calling on countries “to cut trade, economic and cultural relations.”

“Facing History,” a rich source of teaching materials, tells students that the bigotry and hatred we see today are legacies of past injustices. And systemic racism and indigeneity are the subjects of entire Facing History courses. But the nonprofit’s omission of Palestinian history is intentional. “Facing History” functions as though it is possible to be both anti-racist and Zionist.

This spring as the fight to save Sheikh Jarrah, Gaza, and all of Palestine from Israeli settler-colonialism slowly became a mainstay in mainstream public discourse, thousands of artists, musicians, and other culture makers have spoken out in support if Palestine. These statements are not only important political bellwethers, but also essential catalysts for social change.

Salma Abdelnour Gilman is Lebanese-Christian and her husband is an American Jew who grew up Zionist. They have debated Palestine since their first date, but have finally found a vision for the future they can agree on — equal rights for all.

Raoul Peck’s “Exterminate All the Brutes” is an awe-inspiring cultural, literary, historical, political and geographic smorgasbord. But to what end?

Joe Biden helped Bush and Cheney build the case for the Iraq war by allowing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be a doormat. Scott Horton’s book “Enough Already” reminds us that lies and conspiracy theories by Israel supporters fed the runup to the Iraq war. That record is required reading now that our supposed client state is escalating its attacks on Iran just as the U.S. is trying to reenter the Iran deal.