How one Syrian city is rebuilding life after ISIS

JUDY WOODRUFF, PBS NEWSHOUR ANCHOR: Tonight, we conclude our three-part series about fighting
ISIS, and life in northern Syria.
The country has been ravaged by war.
Many parts now lie in ruin.
In the north, the grip of ISIS is slowly receding.
But what happens once ISIS has been pushed out?
How does a community rebuild?
Special correspondent Gayle Tzemach Lemmon traveled to Manbij, a city that was liberated
from ISIS control last year.
This story, as well as last night`s story about the role of Syria`s Kurdish population
in the struggle against ISIS, was done in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis
Reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON, PBS NEWSHOUR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a neighborhood that looks
like this, one front door is hard to miss.
(on camera): Why the color blue?
ABDULKADIR ALI ABOUD, MANBIJ RESIDENT (through translator): Because it`s the color of happiness.
LEMMON (voice-over): Abdulkadir Ali Aboud is a construction worker, born and raised
in Manbij, northern Syria.
His home in the neighborhood of Hasani (ph) was hit by an airstrike in the fighting that
pushed is out exactly one year ago.
ABOUD (through translator): It`s been two months since we began renovations.
When we first saw the damage, we were sad.
But then we realized we`d escaped the injustice of ISIS, and it was worth it.
Everything can be made right.
LEMMON: As the fight to defeat the so-called Islamic State pushes forward, the question
of what comes next comes up again and again.
One year on, this town offers a look at the possibilities -- and the pitfalls -- when
it comes to rebuilding and restarting after ISIS.
Manbij was an ISIS stronghold and saw some of the most-savage fighting of the three-year
fight.
But returning life to normal takes time, and pushing ISIS out is just the start.
For the past year, residents have struggled to rebuild.
Ibrahim Qaftan leads the executive council of Manbij, working to get services to residents.
IBRAHIM QAFTAN, MANBIJ EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (through translator): We are done with the military
side.
We escaped ISIS at home.
But we still need civil services.
People are looking for public services more than anything else.
LEMMON: The challenges remain, the city still has no phone service.
But compared to one year ago, he says, Manbij has made great strides, in health, governance
and education.
And he says there are lessons to be learned, as the diverse population of Manbij, both
Arab and Kurdish, has pushed forward together.
(on camera): What is the lesson the world should learn from Manbij?
QAFTAN (through translator): Brotherhood, national brotherhood.
For the world to succeed, we must act like brothers.
To us, Armenians, Turkmen, Alawites, Druze, are all part of Syria.
We want them all to be one family.
This is our main lesson.
LEMMON (voice-over): But brotherhood is fragile amid the pressure of war.
The city`s population of around 200,000 has doubled, with the arrival of displaced families
from across the country, Qaftan says.
And tensions have emerged.
The Aswad family arrived here two months ago after fleeing the ongoing violence in their
home city of Raqqa.
They`ve taken up residence here in a relative`s Manbij home.
But, they say they`ve faced discrimination, particularly from other Arab residents, who
see that they`re from Raqqa and treat them like ISIS sympathizers.
NAYEF ASWAD, DISPLACED RAQQA RESIDENT (through translator): When we first arrived and said
we are from Raqqa, they immediately judged us.
They accused us of being ISIS.
Yes, we lived in Raqqa, but we were helpless.
We didn`t deal with ISIS, we just went to work and that was it.
ASWAD`S MOTHER (through translator): When we go to the bakery, people complain that
there`s no bread left, because of the refugees from Raqqa.
Nothing is like home.
We hope it will be freed and we can go back.
LEMMON: Shervan Darwish, of the Manbij military council, has witnessed these internal divisions
and challenges, ever since the battle that liberated his city.
SHERVAN DARWISH, MANBIJ MILITARY COUNCIL (through translator): The start of liberation was a
challenge.
It is hard to organize a city that was ruled by terror for two years.
And after we freed Manbij, we need to clear the city from the ISIS ideology.
LEMMON: The fate of Manbij has also been complicated by another factor: geography.
The town sits just 25 miles from its watchful Turkish neighbor.
It lies on a fault-line within Syria: the regime of President Bashar al Assad to the
west, U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab forces to the east, and an ISIS insurgency, that
is on its heels, but far from gone, Darwish says.
DARWISH (through translator): Turkey is trying to destabilize us.
The regime also wants Manbij.
ISIS is still here and also working against us.
For a year, we have not had any internal disorder or attack from inside, but we have had attacks
from outside.
LEMMON: Despite a year without ISIS, Turkish military incursions remain a threat.
Turkish air strikes killed Syrian Democratic forces near Manbij last year, and the city
remains a flashpoint between the U.S. and Turkey.
U.S. forces now regularly patrol the city.
Back in Abdulkadir`s neighborhood, talk of war amid the renovations.
Rafiq Fouad Ali, Abdulkadir`s cousin, is mourning his younger brother, killed last month on
the Raqqa battlefield.
He shows us pictures.
RAFIQ FOUAD ALI, LOST HIS BROTHER FIGHTING ISIS (through translator): I am proud my brother
was killed by ISIS, I`m proud of him.
We want to defeat injustice, and remove the ISIS name from everywhere.
LEMMON: He says he will shortly leave Manbij, and return to battle himself.
ALI (through translator): I don`t mind being killed, if it gives the young generation proper
life and education.
It is not about ourselves.
We must improve the future of the next generation, not ours.
LEMMON: Abdulkadir, too, focuses now on the next generation -- doing his part to restore
their future, and paint over their past.
ABOUD (through translator): ISIS would hang people for three days in the circle, and the
children would see them.
I tried not to let them see such things, and I painted the walls blue, so they would forget
about the black darkness.
I want happiness and joy for my children and neighbors.
LEMMON: He says restoring his house helps him share that joy, and create new memories.
(on camera): You have paint on your hands, you`ve been working all day, how does it feel
after this day`s work?
ABOUD (through translator): Life is going well, thanks be to God.
My greatest joy has been overcoming ISIS.
And we hope for a bright future.
As long as we are over these thugs, we are doing well.
LEMMON (voice-over): One year on, he says, he and his city have both made a good start
at something better.
And as the fight against ISIS nears its end in Raqqa, the story of Manbij is one many
will look to for inspiration.
For the PBS NEWSHOUR, I`m Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, in Manbij, Syria.
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How one Syrian city is rebuilding life after ISIS

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