While the media are concentrating on the large demonstrations in Cairo, Egypt, ostensibly for freedom and democracy, they are ignoring threats to freedom in ostensibly very free Switzerland. According to Israel National News, the United Israel Appeal (UIA) was forced to cancel a planned keynote speech by former president George W. Bush (R) because of real dangers to his security by groups of leftists, Arabs and anarchists.

The calls to demonstrate were sliding into dangerous terrain, Robert Equey, a lawyer for the UIA, told the Swiss daily newspaper Tribune de Genève.

Bush was to launch the UIA's annual fundraising campaign. The organization's Geneva director, Nati Metuki, said that Bush's appearance was called off after intelligence officials said that Arabs, anarchists and anti-Israel leftists planned to cause disturbances at the event.

"Left oriented anarchist organizations, part of them Arab, part of them anti-Israel, they all teamed together to block Bush," Metuki told The Miami Herald, adding that Internet chatter pointed to the possibility of a protest similar to those "who threw Molotov cocktails in Davos, who come to just destroy."

And for that final touch of anti Israel class and hatred, demonstrators planned to throw shoes at Bush in honor of the notorious action of an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoe at Bush when the latter spoke in Baghdad several years ago.

Publicity grabbing Amnesty International initially tried to claim credit for the Bush cancellation based on their threat to have him arrested for war crimes but Swiss authorities rejected that assertion, stating as a former president he was immune from arrest for actions while in office. Amnesty International however has no plans of asking for the arrest of those threatening Bush, the UIA or even Swiss neutrality.