As the Golan Heights come into view in the distance through the car window, Midhat Al Saleh leans forward to look for Israeli stations on the radio dial. He finds the news in Hebrew and sits back to listen. Checkpoint follows checkpoint as the border approaches and Midhat is recognised and greeted enthusiastically by soldiers.
Born on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights in 1967, the year of the Israeli occupation, he "escaped to the Syrian homeland" two years ago, dodging minefields and army patrols by going over the mountains.
For his patriotic deeds, Midhat has become a hero in Syria and was made MP for the Golan Heights last year. He spent 12 years in prison in Israel from the age of 18, leaving Israel immediately after finishing his sentence.
He shies away from describing why he was put in jail, slipping into the impersonal language of Syrian officialdom. "As Syrian natives we have the right to resist the occupation, to fight the occupation. We made a military operation against the Israeli army."
His parents still live in the hillside village of Majdal Chams, on the Israeli side of the border. But their orchard is one kilometre away across the valley on the Syrian side and they have not been able to harvest apples since 1967. Standing in their orchard with an armful of apples, Midhat looks back over the valley to the village.
Majdal Chams is surrounded by outposts with Israeli flags overlooking the valley. It's a popular claim that these are Israeli listening posts that can hear all the way from the Golan Heights to the Presidential Palace in Damascus.
Midhat points out his escape route which zigzags up the mountain from Majdal Chams, passes below one of the Israeli outposts and circles the valley to come down on the Syrian side. "When they spotted the ladder I used at one of the fences, the Israeli soldiers started shooting across the valley, but by then I was on this side and I could hide."
In the distance, the sound of a megaphone can be heard. It comes from the nearby Shouting Valley, the area in front of Majdal Chams where families who have been split up by the border come to talk to each other with megaphones. Divided by a 600-metre stretch of landmines, relatives wave white scarves over their heads so that they can be picked out from the other side with binoculars.
"Granny, it's me, Dina," screams Dina (7) into the megaphone. "How are you, how's your health?"
"Al hamdu l'illah," comes the faint reply from the other side. "God be praised, all is well."
Ahmed, Dina's father, comes here once a week with his family to exchange news with his aunt, uncle and mother who live in Majdal Chams.
Ratem is also using a megaphone to shout to relatives. He is from Bukata, a village three kilometres away on the Israeli side. "From Syria we're not able to telephone Israel," he explains. "But my parents can call me from Israel. They rang yesterday and we arranged to meet here."
Ratem is a student and that gives him exceptional leave to travel freely between Israel and Syria. But he finds it difficult to move between the two countries. "I go back for two months in the summer but my wife can't because she was born here. It's good to see my family and sit with them and enjoy some time together. But when I'm there they're always crying - you can imagine how difficult life is under the occupation. I hate saying goodbye because I feel like I'm torn between the two sides."
Ratem is hopeful for the outcome of the talks, but on one condition. "Along with the whole world, I hope for peace - that all of the Golan becomes part of Syria again."
Syrian President Hafez Al Assad has always repeated his determination that the Golan Heights be returned in their entirety to Syria. It's a demand that everyone from the region repeats, including Midhat. "Every square metre of the Golan Heights must be returned to us, up to the pre-1967 border. If that happens, then we can live in peace."
And if the negotiations do not lead to Syria regaining all of the Golan Heights?
"We must follow our President always, and we will accept everything he tells us," he explains as he prepares to leave the valley to go back to Damascus where he now lives.
He has gathered a bag full of apples from his parents' orchard to bring with him. "It was beautiful here before the occupation," he says, handing out apples to other visitors to the Shouting Valley.