Fauzi Azar House Reawakens: From a Pioneering Guesthouse to a Cultural Beacon for Hope

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Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah are leading a new vision to transform the historical Fauzi Azar House into a cultural center that will breathe life back into Nazareth’s Old City. After over a year of closure, the pioneering guesthouse that once reshaped Israeli tourism is reopening with a new identity and renewed purpose.

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“When people ask us about the vision, the answer is simple,” say Maoz and Aziz, joined by Odette Azar-Shomar: “To bring life back to Nazareth’s Old City—for the benefit of all residents, for the sake of the future.”

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When Maoz Inon partnered with the Nazareth-based Azar family to open the Fauzi Azar Inn in 2005, no one imagined that it would become an international icon and spark the opening of over 50 guesthouses in Nazareth alone. But that’s exactly what happened—the inn reshaped Israeli tourism and became a symbol of authentic hospitality and cross-cultural encounters.

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The values-driven partnership between Maoz and the Azar family is also marked by sorrow and loss. During 20 years of partnership with Maoz and the Abraham Tours group, the memory of the family patriarch, Fauzi Azar, was honored—he perished while saving the house from a fire. Two weeks after Maoz lost his parents in the October 7th Hamas attack, the Azar and Inon families received hundreds of mourners at a condolence gathering held at the Beit Fauzi Azar in Nazareth. The fate of both families and their shared belief in a better future is now forever intertwined.

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Now, Maoz—together with his friend and peace-building partner Aziz Abu Sarah, founder of Mejdi Tours (the company that developed the dual-narrative tour model in Israel, Palestine, and beyond)—is leading a new vision for Beit Fauzi Azar under the non-profit Interact. “We’re not just opening a place—we’re bringing life back to an entire city,” explains Maoz. With recent headlines highlighting Nazareth’s struggles with crime and poverty, a new driving force is urgently needed.

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Beit Fauzi Azar will reopen as a dynamic cultural center: a space for conferences, art exhibitions, photography, workshops, and activism. Beyond that, it will be a meeting point that employs local youth in strategic partnership with the Patrici Paoletti Foundation and its “Youth of Light” program, alongside other civil society groups. The management team also welcomes Marwa Abu Rayni, a native of Nazareth’s Old City, who had previously managed the guesthouse under Abraham’s leadership since 2010. Marwa will oversee operations and ensure a seamless continuation of experience and connection to the site. In fact, the house is already open for bookings for retreats and events.

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For bookings: 
📞  Marwa – +972-52-957-5722 
📧  beitfauziazar@iinteract.org

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Interact International – a nonprofit aiming to achieve peace between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples by 2030. It operates through diverse efforts grounded in equality and fairness, mutual recognition and understanding, reconciliation and healing, peace and security.

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