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The contretemps with Jews threatened to flare anew after a televised "town meeting" presided over by Nightline's Ted Koppel. Mandela had kind words again for Arafat, Castro and even Libya's Muammar Gaddafi. They "support our struggle to the hilt," was his explanation. When asked about the human-rights shortcomings of Libya and Cuba, Mandela retorted that the A.N.C. had "no time to be looking to the internal affairs of other countries."
Jewish groups, at least, have been muted in their response thus far, and are unlikely to mount large protests during the remainder of Mandela's trip. That will remove one potential complication from the hastily arranged tour. It was only on May 11 that 70 supporters of the antiapartheid movement, including activists, politicians, labor leaders and business people, convened in Washington to discuss arrangements. That led to the formation of an organizing committee headed by Randall Robinson, executive director of the antiapartheid group TransAfrica; Lindiwe Mabuza, chief representative of the A.N.C. in the U.S.; and the singer Harry Belafonte. Long before Mandela left Johannesburg on June 4 for Botswana, the first stop on his tour, they were deluged with requests for appearances and meetings. So many of the entreaties were honored that two weeks ago A.N.C. leaders in the Zambian capital of Lusaka requested that the tour be pared down.
The eight U.S. cities that were finally named as stopovers were chosen to serve various purposes. New York, Los Angeles and Washington were foregone conclusions -- three centers of money, clout and glitter that have sizable black communities. Boston was chosen because Senator Edward Kennedy had extended an invitation to Mandela while he was still in jail. Atlanta was included so that Mandela could visit the grave of King and honor the American civil rights movement. Detroit, Miami and Oakland offered opportunities to pay respects to the labor unions that have been staunch supporters of the antiapartheid movement.
Even with the effort to limit the demands upon his time, there were fears that Mandela would be overtaxed. His crowded American itinerary would test the stamina of a presidential campaigner, much less a frail-looking 71-year-old recovering from surgery to remove a benign cyst from his bladder. Mandela's arrival in New York from Montreal had to be delayed by two hours to give him more time to rest.
There was also some concern within Mandela's entourage that certain American politicians would take advantage of his presence and upstage him. At the top of the list was Jesse Jackson, who had a way of getting into camera range at nearly every point along Mandela's New York route. The New York-based organizers of the Harlem rally made a point of keeping Jackson off the list of speakers, despite his best efforts to be added to the program. It didn't help when the master of ceremonies told the crowd, "I know for many of us it's been a long time since we've really loved a leader."