It’s a half-pun about actual piracy. Not sure if illegal fishing is actually considered piracy, but that’s the idea.

Why did they even do that?

Apparently it’s the former. Their prosecution rate is 8% apparently according to Wikipedia, because they’re too understaffed to deal with cases that can go either way. They also have a false confession problem, but that’s not what’s getting them to that rate.

So of course in the end it should come down to what you want to do and where you see yourself living a happier life, and not what people on the internet think you should do. However, purely from a “making the world a better place” perspective, I’d recommend not returning. I get the idea of trying to change society from within, but frankly I think Israel in its current state is beyond saving. The sense of invincibility, among other issues, is too much for simple activism to fix; the country as a whole needs the Nazi Germay treatment (the de-Nazification part, not the war part). At least by not being in Israel you make sure your tax money and children aren’t used in genocide.

I repeat, do what you feel is best for you, but to directly answer your question your absence does more to weaken the Israeli Apartheid apparatus than your presence. Do vote though; definitely vote.

Will Hamas stop if Isreal does?

If Israel stops its apartheid and ethnic cleansing? Certainly.

Amazing. Depressing, but amazing.

That funding is the leverage we have over Israel. Fully halting it eliminates that leverage, and then what?

If you’re not willing to halt, or even reduce, it, it’s not leverage anymore; you’re just being a doormat.

Pretty sure nobody cares, but man as a third world country guy it feels weird as fuck to see these reasonable-looking numbers only to multiply by 50 and get a heart attack.

I mean yes but it’s diminishing returns. The rule kind of falls apart at these numbers.

So nothing about the claim Biden just made?

Then where’s the evidence? Biden lost his credibility the moment he said he saw pictures of the 40 dead babies.

I’ve never used a Mac but my experience with iPhones and iPads (not mine) has convinced me to never touch anything Apple makes. The requirement of iTunes to send files between an iPhone and a PC is, for example, just ridiculous.

car makers just jack up their prices so they make more off the subsidy

Exactly.

Really we should be subsidizing EVs from our own manufacturers.

You are. Still not doing much to corporate greed.

I mean no, but the people with meteorology degrees are probably not gonna be working a job where the number one requirement is to be hot (and not, y’know, have a meteorology degree).

Yeah. The protests aren’t because Bibi’s actions are too right-wing; they’re because even as a far-right leader he’s doing a shit job. Him being a genocidal far right leader isn’t, as a rule, an issue with the general Israeli public. You can look at this if you wanna lose some faith in humanity.

There are protests against Bibi because of his disregard for the hostages’ lives and attempt to destroy Israeli democracy. His party isn’t losing support AFAIK, and the right wing is actually growing.

If it’s any consolation, my just-barely-maybe neurotypical ass uses proper punctuation and I’ve never had any issues. If anyone asks I just say it’s a thing I do.

Israeli society, already working on some 30+ (or 70+ depending on how you count it) years of dehumanization of Palestinians,

Yeah make that a hundred.

A large proportion of them would still be upset if it was a ‘permanent’ ceasefire,

The protesters are actually calling for a ceasefire and have been for a while so at least it’s not as one-sided as you seem to think. No idea about the ratios though, so feel free to drop them if you’ve seen them.

As I said - there are more ways than negotiation to achieve this.

Yes, but none will actually work. How many hostages has Israel retrieved outside of negotiations? From a purely strategic point of view force is not working if your goal is to retrieve the hostages (which we know it’s not). Israelis aren’t upset because the IDF is attempting to retrieve the hostages using force; they’re upset because force can’t work without sacrificing a significant fraction of those hostages as both we and the Israeli public have learned in the past few months.

I mean if they stopped intercepting them they’d have more direct military uses so no?