Gaza Travel Agency - designing the return home for Gazans

Gaza Travel Agency is part of a broader movement to bring the right of return back to the center of international discourse.

At Dutch Design Week, in the container of MU Hybrid Art House, we are presenting an imaginary travel agency, where participants can learn more about the Right of Return and imagine the return of Gazan refugees to their ancestral towns, by bus, by boat, by foot and by plane.

Since 1948, over 80% of the Gazan population have been refugees, 50% of them are children. They were displaced from villages and towns, most of which, according to recent official data, are still empty on Israeli territory.

International law and multiple UN resolutions state the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Through design, we aim to make the abstract idea of return tangible, relatable, and as simple as “taking a bus home”. The idea of Palestinians returning to their original towns- is actively censored and this work is to put it back as a mainstream solution

Gaza Travel Agency is a speculative and participatory design experience inspired by historian Dr. Salman Abu Sitta’s practical plans for the return of Palestinian refugees. It invites visitors to visualise, not debate, the routes, possibilities, and emotions of return.

We believe in the power of design to address complex topics and shift narratives. This work aims to transform politics and despair into imagination and designed possibilities, from chaos and hopelessness to a simple journey, a journey into designing peace.

The funds raised will directly support the production of Gaza Travel Agency in Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week. This includes costs for printing, construction of the exhibition space, materials, transportation, and assembly. Every contribution brings this vision one step closer: from idea to installation, from displacement to return.

About Gaza Travel Agency

We are a collective made of volunteers and collaborators from Palestinian, Jewish, and diverse international backgrounds, united by a shared commitment to justice and imagination and united in the campaign Bring Gaza Home.

Gaza Travel Agency is supported by Design Reparations , a global community of designers working in solidarity with Indigenous-led and displaced communities. Together, we believe in the power of design to support liberation, dignity, and the right to return.