Traditionally, during the Seder, Jews spill some of the wine from our cups while reading the ten plagues, symbolizing reduced joy at the suffering of others. This week, in honor of the upcoming holiday, APN is offering suggestions of modern plagues to add to the traditional list: plagues that affect Israel today.

From the very first plague posted Monday, regarding the expansion of settlements, there has been an outcry from extremists who claim that APN is comparing other Jews or settlers to a plague. It is not surprising that these extremists would want to misdirect attention from the very real obstacle that settlement expansion poses to establishing peace for Israel, and to the very real suffering that settlement growth will cause to both Israelis and Palestinians who long for a peaceful future and an end to occupation. However, contrary to the right's assertions, APN does not refer to settlers as a "plague" and has never done so. Our problem is not with the settlers as a collective but with the Israeli government's policy of expanding settlements. We believe that it is severely threatening Israel's future as a democracy and a Jewish state.

As we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. This is our aim: to make people think and to act for peace.

This week, we bring you a new cartoon, regarding the formation of Israel's government: “A Bird-in-Hand”

The essence of Passover is a promise for a better future through the transformation of an entire people from slavery to freedom. This idea has sustained us, the Jewish people, for centuries.

In the wake of Israel’s recent elections we must find a way to cope with the policies of Israel’s re-elected prime minister which offer us little promise and hope.

This week, Alpher discusses how significant is it that Saudi Arabia has put together a ten-nation Sunni coalition to fight Iran-backed Zaidi-Shiite forces in Yemen; how does one explain Saudi and Egyptian alarm, given that Yemen is a poor, dysfunctional backwater parts of which are virtually unconquerable due to geography; what is unusual about the participation of Turkey, Qatar and Sudan in the Saudi-led coalition; if a joint Arab army is a serious proposition; what the Saudi-led war effort has accomplished thus far and what strategic challenges remain; if a Saudi-Iranian proxy war could spread elsewhere in the Middle East; if there is really solid evidence of Iranian participation on the side of the Houthis in Yemen; the Israeli angle to the Yemen struggle; and if there is a Palestinian angle.