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Bush trip to Switzerland axed over torture protest fears
The United Israel Appeal scrapped a plan to showcase President George W. Bush at a Feb. 12 gala in Geneva amid reports that human rights groups were poised to protest and file a torture complaint.
The charity, also known as Keren Hayesod, notified the former president on Friday morning "that the event has been called off," a Bush spokesman, David Sherzer, said Saturday.
"We regret that the speech has been canceled," Sherzer said. "President Bush was looking forward to speaking about freedom and offering reflections from his time in office."
The United Israel Appeal did not respond to an emailed request for an explanation on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. But the Associated Press, citing a Swiss newspaper report, said charity officials were worried protests could turn violent at the speech by the 43rd American president.
It was to be held at the Hotel Wilson, named for the 28th American president, Woodrow Wilson.
Protest organizers told participants to bring an extra shoe, prompting fears that someone might re-enact an Iraqi journalist's 2008 assault on President Bush in Baghdad. The reporter hurled his own footwear as a sign of contempt.