The recent crisis has entailed—in addition to the death or injury of thousands of Palestinians, and several Israelis—serious impediments to personal and vehicular mobility between the West Bank and Gaza and between the Occupied Palestinian Territory as a whole and Israel and the rest of the world. Furthermore, there have been obstacles to mobility between cities, towns and villages in both the West Bank and Gaza. These were due to reduced levels of security on roads between Palestinian population centers, the imposition of strict internal and comprehensive border closures by the Israeli authorities (including the placing of physical barriers between Palestinian villages and cities), and to the work interruptions in the Palestinian Territory. The political strife has resulted in significant losses for the Palestinian economy. The present report seeks to quantify the losses incurred during the last three weeks.

Under pressure from the World Bank, last year Bolivia privatized the water
system of Cochabamba, the countries third largest city. The government
sold the city's water to Agua del Tunari, a subsidiary of the California based Bechtel Corp. In January the company increased the water rates by as much
as 400 percent. In a country where the minimum wage is $100 per month many
families saw their monthly water bill soar past $20.

People of Cochabamba rebelled. A coalition of labor, human rights, and
community activists under the leadership of "La Coordinadora'', brought
the
city to a halt. They refused to back down despite the government's
declaration of a "state of siege" and the sending in of troops. After
months of protests the Bolivian government was forced to nullify the
contract.