of a territory, particularly when that ideology or policy asserts the dominance of a certain group over another.3 International law sets clear rules to prohibit forced population transfer, including in the United Nations Charter, through the specific branches of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, international criminal law and international refugee law. Both internal (within an internationally recognized border) and external displacement are regulated. Further Reading This is a brief summary of the Introduction paper to this Series. For a detailed overview on forced population transfer please see Working Paper No. 15 (March 2014). Available at: http://www.badil.org/phocadownload/Badil_docs/publications/wp15-introduction.pdf. Historical Context: The Case of Palestine At the beginning of the 20th century, most Palestinians lived inside the borders of Palestine, now divided into the state of Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territory (The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip). Five major periods or episodes of forcible displacement transformed Palestinians into the largest and longest-standing unresolved refugee case in the world today. By the end of 2013, an estimated 7.4 million (66 percent) of the global Palestinian population of 11.2 million are forcibly displaced persons.4 Methodology All papers will consist of both field and desk research. Field research will consist of case studies drawn from individual and group interviews with Palestinians affected by forced population transfer, or professionals (such as lawyers or employees of organizations) working on the issue. The geographic focus of the Series will include Israel, the occupied Palestinian territory and Palestinian refugees living in forced exile. Most of the data used will be qualitative in nature, although where quantitative data is available – or can be collected – it will be included in the research. 3 A.S. Al-Khawasneh and R. Hatano, The Human Rights Dimensions of Population Transfer Including the Implantation of Settlers, Preliminary Report Prepared for Commission on Human Rights SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Forty-Fifth Session (Bethlehem, Palestine: BADIL- Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, August 2, 1993). 4 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, “Special Statistical Bulletin On the 64th Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba” (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2012), http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_ pcbs/PressRelease/nakba_64E.pdf. 7