Maastricht student from Gaza did not say 'This is me' in video

The student at Maastricht University who was previously thought to have acknowledged involvement in the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, is proven to have been misquoted. In the video on Instagram, he appears to be saying "This is me," pointing at masked jihadists on television. NOS now establishes that he speaks Arabic in the video, and not English, and also that he does not acknowledge any involvement. Many media reported at the end of September that the student had been suspended by Maastricht University. The reason was a video, since removed from Instagram, about which NOS also reported that the words "This is me" could be heard. The student points to images of Al Jazeera news channel on television, gives a thumbs-up, and speaks to someone sitting next to him on the couch. Arabic dialect Anthropologist and translator of Arabic Rahma Bavelaar reported in early October via the Limburg radio station L1 that they heard Arabic, and not English, in the images. The student would not say "This is me," but "tasheshni," which according to her means something like 'take me outside' in a local dialect. According to Bavelaar, this is a specific Arabic dialect spoken in Gaza, among other places. Further study of the images also leads NOS to the conclusion that the student does not speak English in the video. Sources in Gaza, who speak the Gazan dialect, do not doubt this. They hear Arabic, and not "This is me." And therefore also no acknowledgment from the student that he was involved with Hamas or the attacks of October 7, 2023. Also due to the poor sound quality, it remains difficult for Arabic speakers to ascertain what the student is saying in the images to which NOS referred. According to the European Legal Center, which represents the student, the student himself categorically denies saying "This is me." He actually uses the Arabic word "tasheshni," an expression that he says is widely used locally. Security Check The video was picked up by the media after the Center for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) shared the student's Instagram video. The CIDI stands for the interests of Israel and the Jewish community. On X, the organization expressed concerns about the security checks that students undergo when coming to study in the Netherlands. The CIDI wrote that the student glorifies terrorism in the video. Maastricht University reversed the suspension after a conversation with the student and spoke of a misunderstanding. The Public Prosecution Service also concluded after an investigation in early October that there is no basis to assume that the student was involved in the attacks of October 7. Committee Questions Members of the Markuszower group asked committee questions about the student's presence in the Netherlands. In response, Minister Van den Brink of Asylum and Migration referred to the opinion of the Public Prosecution Service. The student came to the Netherlands in June as a member of a group of 47 Palestinians who could leave Gaza with a work or study visa for the Netherlands. To make this journey, the Gazans must also travel through Israel and have permission from Israel to cross the border of Gaza. Israel carries out heavy security checks before Gazans receive this permission.