We are discussing the request for defederation, but the consensus is that this may not be needed, since the 0.19 Lemmy update is expected to roll out in the upcoming weeks. This update will also enable users to block whole instances, and hopefully, address a big chunk of the issue we seem to be having here.

That doesn't address the broader issue of cultivating an instance culture that tolerates people **celebrating **the literal rape and murder of civilians. Instance defederations aren't just so that individuals don't have to deal with other individuals - they're to prevent the cultivation of a common culture that the defederating instance regards as unacceptable. Like Hexbear trolling. In this case, it is Lemmygrad.ml's celebration of the rape and murder of civilians.

Like, I can't emphasize this enough. I'm anti-Israel enough that I regularly get accused of antisemitism. I think Israel is an apartheid regime flirting with fascism and turning Gaza into an open air prison that's just short of genocide (may not be short of genocide much longer). This is not an issue of "Palestine vs. Israel - normal politics!", it's an issue of the celebration of horrific atrocities and what tolerating that in the instance entails. Just like with Hexbear, the answer isn't "Block the instance" (when the instance block is released). This is an issue of communities.

Mull on the decision, sure, but "Individuals can block" isn't really addressing what's core here.