Trucks with way-bills bearing the names of Israeli factories can pass through crossing points more cheaply and easily at all hours of the day or night, without having to unload and reload the goods at the crossing.
Trucks with Palestinian shipping documents however, must use back-to-back transfer, in which goods are unloaded from a Palestinian truck and reloaded onto an Israeli truck and passing is restricted to a few hours per day. This method damages the cargo which can lose some 20 percent of its value.
According to recent joint letter sent by the Palestinian union of stone and marble industry and the Israeli association of stone processors to Israeli Deputy Army Minister Matan Vilani, and the Head of the Israeli Civil Administration brig gen, one time fictious waybills are sold to Palestinian producers for NIS1.200 ( the average value of single truckload is $15.000) the professional associations estimate that the issuers make about NIS250.000 a month from the fake documents.
Stone manufacturer Nassar Nassar, who is considered one of the largest figures in the industry world wise - Nassar Group said: that Israeli contractors told him that Israeli con men have offered them steady supplies of stone from Palestinian facilities in exchange for commission fees.
He said that those who reject the offer to pay what amounts to protection money see their supplies of stone become inconsistent, while those who make the payments enjoy a regular supply. Nassar claims some of the payments are done under the noses of border crossing employees.
“Industry figures say that the back-to-back method and the payment of protection money have dealt a fatal blow to a field that employs about 30,000 people. Nassar and his colleagues recently asked for help from
