A Look at How Things Are Going Now in Southern Lebanon
BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Last month, Israel pulled its troops out of Southern Lebanon, allowing the long-divided country to reunite. Our CNN Beruit bureau chief Brent Sadler tells us how things are going.</s>BRENT SADLER, BERUIT BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In the once war- ravaged heart of Beirut, thousands of young Lebanese assemble in Parliament Square. It's no ordinary outing since most of them come from the former Israeli-occupied parts of South Lebanon, visiting their nation's capital for the first time. The festival is part of a campaign to help a fractured and often feuding society reintegrate.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If she is a Christian, if she is a Muslim, why, because we are brothers, we are from the same nation, so let us take this discrimination we have.</s>SADLER: The campaign is also aimed at heeling psychological scars of war, especially among older teenagers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people have seen the war, with its blood, with its cannons. Some of them have seen people dead in the streets. I think these people need some time to overcome what they have witnessed and what they have seen, and that's what we're working on. Member of parliament Bahiri Hariri (ph) is at the forefront of helping Lebanese youth overcome social divisions. Five years of efforts so far, including a song and dance spectacle in South Lebanon itself, used to build bridges of understanding between rival communities.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've learned how to talk to people, and like many friends, I have many friends now, and I've learned how much my country is working for me.</s>SADLER: In Beirut, though, a sign of discontent, because in the wake of Israel's troop pullout, many southern Christians fled to Israel and haven't come back.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the people say we are happy, we are happy, we are happy. No, we are not happy. We are happy and we are free, yes. But we need more of my friends. I need my friend. I know all the people (ph).</s>SADLER: Still, they're being encouraged to expect a brighter future in the hope it will erase memories of a bitter past. (on camera): Torn apart by years of civil war and Israeli occupation, Lebanese society may take generations to recover. Events like this seem to be a promising start, but there is still a long way to go. Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.