Palestinian Families Reunite Along Israeli-Lebanese Border
BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Now, let's go Back to our story from the Middle East and correspondent Brent Sadler.</s>BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the coils of barbed-wire along this small section of the Lebanese-Israeli border, a heart-wrenching twist of fate: Flowers are passed through the razor wire, hands reach out to touch, faces filled with hope, hope they'll breach a great divide by recognizing relatives. Israeli Arabs of Palestinian origin are on one side, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon on the other. It's the first time in 50 years, they say, their families have been able to meet face-to-face. Fatmay al Ali (ph) is looking for a face she might recognize. Her nephew, Ahmed (ph), is here. Fatmay smiles with joy. They can look at each other but can't touch on this bittersweet day. Along another part of Israel's now exposed border, a ritual of sorts: the souvenir photograph, a chorus of anti-Israeli protest and a rock hurled with varying degrees of fury or satisfaction at an embattled Israeli post. Tension has been reduced, though, following restricted access here. But still, visitors can clearly see life inside Israel, life now adapting to new facts on the ground. (on camera): While the U.N. straightens out border verification issues, the Lebanese authorities are delaying any serious efforts to reassert state authority over the former Israel-occupied areas. (voice-over): The Fatma Gate: a crossing point from once occupied territory into Israel, now a rallying point for Palestinians living as refugees in Lebanon, tantalizingly close to what they call "Israeli-occupied Palestine," playing on their desire to return.</s>SADLER: Israel's troop withdrawal from South Lebanon has reawakened the Palestinian dream of reuniting families and reclaiming long-lost land. Brent Sadler, CNN, on the Lebanese-Israeli border.