Only Label for American in Ramallah Is 'Human Being'
Mr. Shapiro, who was raised Jewish but says he is an atheist, says he is acting ``as a human being, as an American who has grown up with freedom - seeing what's happening, the injustice, and wanting to do something about it.''

That has also included contacts with the press to counter what he says is ``a tremendous amount of misinformation'' in America.

In comments that have outraged his critics, he has compared some instances of Israeli behavior toward Palestinians to that of the Nazis.

Mr. Shapiro wrote in an article that the demolition of Palestinian homes, the seizure of the Palestinian political headquarters in East Jerusalem and the closure of other offices serving Palestinians reminded him of Kristallnacht, a night of anti-Jewish rioting in Nazi Germany in 1938 that destroyed hundreds of Jewish shops, homes and synagogues and claimed 36 Jewish lives.

Mr. Shapiro insists that the comparisons are valid, and that he chose them deliberately to resonate with Israelis and Jews.

He argues that Palestinian suicide bombers are products of the Israeli occupation and that when occupation ends so will the suicide attacks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/international/middleeast/18SHAP.html