Arin Safadi, a 24 year old Druze woman from the village of Ein Qinya in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, set out to marry her fiance, 35-year-old Rabia Safadi in neighboring Syria last September. However, due to the absence of diplomatic ties between Syria and Israel, she had to sign a document shortly befor leaving, giving up her right of residence – acknowledging that she would not be allowed to return to her family home. Arin and Rabia were married the same day, planning to move to Jaramana, a twon near Damascus, Syria.
Israeli-Druze bride Arin Safadi, 24, departs through the United Nations buffer zone at the Quneitra crossing in the Golan Heights, to marry a Syrian-Druze groom on Septemper 25, 2008. Once she crosses into Syria, the bride is not allowed to return to Israel.
Bride Arin Safadi hugs a relative as she leaves her family home on September 25, 2008 in her village of Ein Qiniya in the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War.
Arin Safadi is kissed by a relative as she leaves her family home to be married in Syria on September 25, 2008.
Arin Safadi prepares to cross the Israeli-Syrian border of Kuneitra on September 25, 2008 after leaving her family home.
Friends and relatives of Israeli-Druze bride Arin Safadi react during her departure to marry a Syrian-Druze groom, through the United Nations buffer zone at the Quneitra crossing in the Golan Heights
United Nations border guards stand at the Syrian-Israeli border into Quneitra, where Druze bride Arin Safadi crossed into Syria on September 25, 2008.
Arin Safadi waves as she crosses the Israeli-Syrian border of Kuneitra.
A Druze relative of Arin Safadi cries at the Kuneitra border crossing between Israel and Syrian on September 25, 2008.
Arin Safadi crosses the Syrian-Israeli check point with her husband, Rabia Safadi (on her right), on September 25, 2008.
Arin Safadi wipes her tears as she joins her groom in a waiting car on September 25, 2008 after crossing the Israeli-Syrian border.
