{{short description|French anthropologist}} {{Infobox person | name = Eleonore Merza | birth_date = 1980 | birth_place = Paris | education = Centre national de la recherche scientifique; Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales | occupation = Anthropologist }}
'''Eleonore Merza''' (born 1980?) is an anthropologist who studies Adygean (Circassian) diaspora communities in Israel and beyond.
== Biography == Merza was born in Paris circa 1980.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Hass|first=Amira|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2016-05-16/ty-article-magazine/.premium/digging-for-a-circassian-familys-golan-roots/0000017f-f557-d5bd-a17f-f77f24a00000|title=A Woman Digs for Her Circassian Family's Roots - and Plants Her Own - in the Golan|date=2016-05-16|work=Haaretz|access-date=2020-04-17|language=en}}</ref> Her father's family were Circassian, originally from Maykop in Adygea, who were forced to flee from the region in the 1860s by the Russian government.<ref name=":0" /> This era became known as the Circassian genocide, where 1.5 million people were killed, and 90% of the same number who remained were forced to emigrate.<ref name=":0" /> Merza's great-grandfather Mamet Merzamwkhwo was a refugee who fled, first to the Balkans, then to the Golan Heights where twelve Circassian villages were founded, including Mansoura where the family settled.<ref name=":0" /> Later the inhabitants were expelled following the Israeli invasion and moved to Syria.<ref name=":0" />
Merza's mother's family were Algerian Jews; the two met at a Communist Party meeting in Paris whilst studying abroad.<ref name=":0" /> They married and lived in Paris, where Merza and her brother Alexandre-Indar were born.<ref name=":0" /> Merza spent her early childhood in Amman as her father worked there an engineer.<ref name=":0" /> She attended a French school. And lived in a Circassian community.<ref name=":0" />
== Career == thumb|Reyhaniya, one of two Circassian towns in Israel thumb|Circassian men in Kfar Kama, the other village thumb|The Circassian Heritage Centre in Kfar Kama Merza undertook doctoral research at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales where she examined how Circassian (specifically Adygean), Jewish and Muslim identities intersect within Israel.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Longuet Marx|first1=Frédérique|last2=Clayer|first2=Nathalie|last3=Lory|first3=Bernard|last4=Anastassiadou-Dumont|first4=Méropi|last5=Popovic|first5=Alexandre|last6=Hamès|first6=Constant|date=2009-01-01|title=ÉTO – Centre d'histoire du domaine turc (CHDT)|url=http://journals.openedition.org/annuaire-ehess/19733|journal=Annuaire de l'EHESS. Comptes rendus des cours et conférences|language=fr|pages=702–707|issn=0398-2025}}</ref> Her thesis was entitled: “Neither Jews nor Arabs in Israel: Identity of a minority in a space of war and in dialectics of negotiations - Test case of the Circassians (Adygheans) of Kfar Kama and Reyhaniya”.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Merza|first=Eleonore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgBFzQEACAAJ&q=%22Eleonore+Merza%22+-wikipedia|title=Ni Juifs ni Arabes en Israël: dialectiques d'identification et négociations identitaires d'une minorité dans un espace en guerre : le cas des Tcherkesses (Adyghéens) de Kfar Kama et de Reyhaniya|date=2012|language=fr}}</ref> Whilst undertaking fieldwork for her doctoral research in Israel, Merza's dual identity became problematic with frequent interrogation by Israeli authorities about her political beliefs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lamarche|first=Karine|date=2015-12-22|title=L'apport heuristique d'une implication incontournable. L'exemple d'une recherche sur un terrain " sensible " (Israël-Palestine) *|url=http://journals.openedition.org/civilisations/3822|journal=Civilisations. Revue internationale d'anthropologie et de sciences humaines|language=fr|issue=64|pages=35–44|doi=10.4000/civilisations.3822|issn=0009-8140|doi-access=free}}</ref> Merza's postdoctoral research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique looked the idea of occupation, in terms of those who are conscientious objectors against military service and attitudes of society towards them, as well as the economic impact of occupation for Israel.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Plessix|first1=Caroline du|last2=Tovias|first2=Alfred|date=2014-11-25|title=The EU, Israel and the "Arab Spring" States: Beyond the Status Quo?. Strategic considerations|url=http://journals.openedition.org/bcrfj/7304|journal=Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem|language=en|issue=25|issn=2075-5287}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orientxxi.info/fa/auteur/eleonore-merza-bronstein|title=Eleonore Merza Bronstein|website=orientxxi.info|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
In 2015, she and her husband Eitan Bronstein Aparicio founded the NGO ''[https://www.de-colonizer.org/ De-Colonizer]'' to try to begin to sensitise Israelis to their colonial history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://morlaix-palestine-solidarite.jimdofree.com/activites-de-l-afps-du-pays-de-morlaix-1/retour-de-palestine-2-rencontre-avec-eléonore-merza-bronstein/|title=Retour de Palestine (2) Rencontre avec Eléonore Merza Bronstein|website=morlaix-palestine-solidarite, AFPS du Pays de Morlaix|language=fr-FR|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
In 2018 Merza published a new work ''Nakba'', which aims to bring the discussion of the role of the Israeli state as a coloniser back to public consciousness.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france-palestine.org/Printemps-de-la-Palestine-Conference-d-Eleonore-Merza-Bronstein-sur-son-dernier|title=Printemps de la Palestine / Conférence d'Eléonore Merza-Bronstein sur son dernier livre|website={{ill|France-Palestine Solidarity Association|fr|Association France Palestine Solidarité }}|language=fr|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref> Her understanding of the Nakba has contributed to other academic projects.<ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Remembering Past(s), Imagining Futures: The Politics of Hope in Palestine|url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/92662|date=2016|degree=Thesis|language=en|first=Noa Tova|last=Shaindlinger}}</ref> This work is part of a trend in memory activism in Israel since 1998.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Górska|first=Ewa|date=2016|title=Memory activism : methods of creation of alternative collective memory in former Yugoslavia and Israel|url=https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/handle/item/73036|journal=Maska|volume=32|issn=1898-5947}}</ref> Both believe that Palestinian points of view need to be understood by Israeli Jews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/israel-and-palestine-story-of-modern-colonialism/|title=Israel and Palestine: a story of modern colonialism|website=openDemocracy|language=en|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
Selected publications include:
* ''Nakba'' (Omniscience, 2018)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Merza Bronstein, Eléonore.|title=Nakba : pour la reconnaissance de la tragédie palestinienne en Israël|others=Bronstein Aparicio, Eitan.|date=18 October 2018|isbn=979-10-97502-09-6|location=Mouans-Sartoux|oclc=1080639899}}</ref> *'The Israeli Circassians: non-Arab Arabs', ''Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem'' (2012)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Merza|first=Eleonore|date=2012-12-31|title=Les Tcherkesses d'Israël : des " Arabes pas arabes "|url=http://journals.openedition.org/bcrfj/6850|journal=Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem|language=fr|issue=23|issn=2075-5287}}</ref> *'Being both Non-Jewish Israelis and Non-Palestinian Muslims: Isn't it Too Much?', ''Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem'' (2010)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Merza|first=Eleonore|date=2010-12-15|title=Being both Non-Jewish Israelis and Non-Palestinian Muslims: Isn't it Too Much?. The Circassian Identity across Borders and Categorizations|url=http://journals.openedition.org/bcrfj/6412|journal=Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem|language=en|issue=21|issn=2075-5287}}</ref>
She lives in Tel Aviv and in addition to her anthropological research works as a photographer and a writer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.de-colonizer.org/who-we-are|title=who we are|website=de-colonizer|language=fr|access-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
== References == <references />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Merza, Eleonore}} Category:Living people Category:Date of birth uncertain Category:French anthropologists Category:French women anthropologists Category:French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists Category:Writers from Paris Category:1980 births Category:Circassians in Israel