Leila Safadi runs the Golan-based Banias website. She lives in Majdel Shams, the biggest of five villages on the Golan Heights. Twelve years ago, she left her hometown of Shehba, in south Syria, to join her husband across the border.

Many women come across the border to marry into a Golanaise family. Often, the parents are related. Those who are originally from the Golan Heights but live in Syria, often encourage their offspring to marry into a family still living in the now occupied territory. In the past, a couple would get to know each other by exchanging photos. Now, futures spouses tend to meet a few times in Jordan before getting married.

I met my husband Samih in Damascus in 1998. He'd obtained permission [from the Israeli authorities] to study dentistry at Damascus University. We fell in love and decided to get married. We were optimistic, because of the peace talks going on at the time; we thought things would change. But in reality, nothing did.

For me to be able to move to the Golan Heights we got help from the Red Cross International Committee (ICRC) and asked both the Syrian and Israeli authorities respectively for me to leave Syria and enter Israel. When I got to the border, I was overcome by fear. A part of you dies when you cross the border. You wave goodbye to your country, your family and your friends.

Two years ago my father died. I asked for permission to go to the funeral but the Israeli authorities refused. For three days, I staged a sit-in on the border crossing with my two children. They finally gave me an 18-hour visitor's pass. It had been ten years that I hadn't seen my family.