Walled off: Tourism and justice in oppressed communities.

Attending to the emergent debates on tourism and (in)justice, this study critically examines the role of the Walled Off Hotel, Banksy's tourism-artistic intervention in Palestine, in constructing justice. Utilising the evidence from 15 in-depth empathetic interviews, it explores the ways in which local residents make sense of the Hotel and how they frame and experience (in)justices. While demonstrating how these interpretations are entangled with the broader geographic, social and political context, the paper discusses how different forms of justice circulate in this particular context. The new knowledge generated contributes to our further understanding of achieving justice-through-tourism as an affirmative praxis, while addressing the broader humanitarian, earthly, or otherwise existential crisis. • We examine how justice and social sustainability unfold within the oppressed community. • We unpack the role of Western-initiated artistic intervention in constructing justice. • Perspectives of oppressed communities need to be prioritized in tourism development. • Social sustainability requires political action and social transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]