By STEVE DUNLEAVY
April 14 – WENT looking for an- other traitorous wacko like “Hanoi Jane” Fonda.
Instead, I found Richard Gere – and the words I had been planning to write melted away in the drizzle at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.
Gere had just met with U.N. officials to protest the Chinese treatment of Tibet.
So why am I here gabbing with the Hollywood types I normally detest? There was a 12-day-old hunger strike by three Tibetans – and I wanted to hear what they had to say.
One of the hunger strikers, Dolma Choephel, told me in perfect English: “You probably didn’t know about us because we don’t believe in drawing attention to ourselves by killing people with bombs.”
Dolma has never seen her Tibetan homeland because when the Chinese overran this lovely, docile country, her mother and father left for India.
Now she lies in a tarpaulin-covered bed, refusing food.
“The first two days, you are hungry. After that, not so bad, ” said Choephel.
You will die, it was suggested: “Not a real problem, because my country comes first,” she said.
Gere gave no fake Hollywood tears – just a firm jaw of determination.
“It has to come to this to get these gentle, peace-loving people to get any kind of justice in this age of violence,” Gere said.
Gere is trying to stop the Chinese from executing some Tibetan leaders.
“I hope there is potential, but the United Nations has diminished itself in recent years,” Gere said.
Good luck, Richard.
