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Palestinians evacuate a wounded woman following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.

Israel’s right to destroy Hamas cannot excuse mounting Palestinian deaths

By ignoring pleas to protect civilians, the Israeli government appears determined to follow an immoral strategy that is bound to backfire.

Trudy Rubin | Columnist2 hours ago

John Dougherty’s attorney portrayed him as a tireless advocate for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Prosecutors argued he bilked his union members. Dougherty did both, writes the Editorial Board.

Another guilty verdict for John Dougherty, and the need for systemic change | Editorial

The Editorial Board

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Boo-bird of unhappiness | Editorial Cartoon

John Cole, For The Inquirer

Merck is suing the federal government over a plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices, calling the program a sham equivalent to extortion. The drugmaker is seeking to halt the program, which was laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act and is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars in the coming years.

Letters to the Editor | Dec. 8, 2023

Letters to the Editor, For The Inquirer

Harvard president Claudine Gay (left) and University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill listen during a hearing of the House Education committee on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

What went unsaid at the congressional hearings on antisemitism on college campuses

Jonathan Zimmerman | Columnist

Israel’s right to destroy Hamas cannot excuse mounting Palestinian deaths

By ignoring pleas to protect civilians, the Israeli government appears determined to follow an immoral strategy that is bound to backfire.

Trudy Rubin | Columnist2 hours ago

Palestinians evacuate a wounded woman following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.

Palestinians evacuate a wounded woman following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.

Israel’s right to destroy Hamas cannot excuse mounting Palestinian deaths

By ignoring pleas to protect civilians, the Israeli government appears determined to follow an immoral strategy that is bound to backfire.

Trudy Rubin | Columnist2 hours ago

What went unsaid at the congressional hearings on antisemitism on college campuses

Jonathan Zimmerman | Columnist

Harvard president Claudine Gay (left) and University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill listen during a hearing of the House Education committee on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year has already been embraced by Philly’s tastemakers

Elizabeth Wellington | Columnist

Bolo's Old Cuban, a mix of champagne, rum, lime juice, and mint leaves, is a wintery drink with a springy peach hue. Pantone Color Institute's 2024 Color of the Year is Peach Fuzz, it's 25th.

Not even Philadelphia’s thick coat of armor could absorb the heartbreak of the latest act of violence

Helen Ubiñas | Columnist

A chalk message dedicated to Eric Harrison, a Macy's loss prevention employee who was killed by an alleged shoplifter on Monday. Debates over poor retail theft policies and penalties mean little to Harrison's loved ones, writes Helen Ubiñas.

Norman Lear changed Black television

Elizabeth Wellington | Columnist

Norman Lear at the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour on Jan. 13, 2020, in Pasadena, Calif. Lear, the writer, director, and producer who revolutionized prime-time television with such topical hits as "All in the Family" and "Maude" and propelled political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of sitcoms, died on Dec. 5 at 101.

Community members contribute their opinions about issues in the news.

Danilo Cavalcante is taken into custody at the Pennsylvania State Police barracks at Avondale on Sept. 13 — after eluding hundreds of searchers for two weeks.

What’s with the American obsession over police manhunts?

Bruce Dorsey, For The Inquirer

The author — here with DJ Spinderella, of the group, Salt-N-Pepa in 1991 — writes that his affinity for lyrics, beats, and flows began as a child when "cassette tapes and headphones transported me to a dimension where hip-hop music reigned supreme."

Popping, locking, and looking back: A music journalist reflects on 50 years of hip-hop

Mister Mann Frisby, For The Inquirer

Demonstrators march up 18th Street during a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday in Center City.

After the Goldie protest, one patron hears a haunting historical echo

Lydia Kulina-Washburn, For The Inquirer

People walk near a lit-up Al Wasl Dome at Expo City at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Four ways Pa. can prepare for climate change

Mathy Vathanaraj Stanislaus, For The Inquirer

Guests examine two skeletons of people who had fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva at the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia on Sept. 9, 2020.

New Mütter Museum policy on human remains is a disgrace

Marianne Hamel, For The Inquirer

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Tips for pitching The Philadelphia Inquirer's Opinion section.

Staff Reports

From Our Editorial Board

These opinions were researched and written by a group of journalists who work separately from the newsroom to debate matters of public interest.

John Dougherty’s attorney portrayed him as a tireless advocate for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Prosecutors argued he bilked his union members. Dougherty did both, writes the Editorial Board.

Another guilty verdict for John Dougherty, and the need for systemic change | Editorial

The Editorial Board

Speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard have helped save lives and reduce accidents. Legislators should reauthorize their use, writes the Editorial Board, before a pilot program ends with the new year.

Speed camera program helps save lives. Lawmakers should vote to keep it. | Editorial

The Editorial Board

Protesters with the Flood Philly for Gaza march stopped outside falafel shop Goldie, where they directed chants at its Israeli-born owner. Hateful rhetoric aimed at Jewish people will do nothing to bring about peace and should not be tolerated, writes the Editorial Board.

Intimidating Jewish businesses will not end the bombing in Gaza | Editorial

The Editorial Board

During the Kenney administration, Philadelphia's economy barely grew. It's essential that Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker improves upon that track record, the Editorial Board writes.

Yet another item for the mayor-elect’s to-do list: addressing Philadelphia’s sluggish economy | Editorial

The Editorial Board

Southwark Elementary School in South Philadelphia is closed because of asbestos. The Separations Act, which requires public entities to contract with multiple laborers, can slow school repair projects.

It’s time to overhaul the outdated, 110-year-old law that slows down building projects in Pa. | Editorial

The Editorial Board

Special Reports

America’s maternal care system dehumanized me. I became a doula to change it.

I’m a Black doula who took charge of my birth. Now I’m taking on America’s $111 billion maternal care industry.

MaryNissi Lemon, For The Inquirer

MaryNissi Lemon of Lemonlife Doula and Birthing Services explains what it will look like when the baby’s head crowns during the childbirth education class at the Garsen Center, 4704 Leiper St. Phila., Pa. on May 22, 2022.

MaryNissi Lemon of Lemonlife Doula and Birthing Services explains what it will look like when the baby’s head crowns during the childbirth education class at the Garsen Center, 4704 Leiper St. Phila., Pa. on May 22, 2022.

America’s maternal care system dehumanized me. I became a doula to change it.

I’m a Black doula who took charge of my birth. Now I’m taking on America’s $111 billion maternal care industry.

MaryNissi Lemon, For The Inquirer

How I ended up alone in a cell for 45 days

Akeil Robertson-Jowers, For The Inquirer

Philadelphia artist Akeil Robertson-Jowers painted "US#1" while incarcerated. He created the piece in collaboration with other incarcerated men.

5 medical professionals on why they stay as hospital workers flee post-COVID

Mary Adamson, Maureen May, Uhura Free Russ, Latoya Charise Nesbitt, Carlos Aviles, and Jonathan Ley

Mary Adamson (center), an ICU Nurse at Temple University Hospital, with other Temple nurses. Adamson wrote a piece about all of the nurses that remain in the profession.

Six Philadelphians reflect on Black History Month and their hopes for the future | Opinion

Inquirer Opinion Editors, For The Inquirer

Protesters calling to defund the police march down East Market Street near Eighth Street in Center City Philadelphia in June 2020. Protests against racism and police violence continued in Philadelphia for a second week after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

In their own words, 7 moms whose kids were killed by gun violence share what they’ve lost

Helen Ubiñas | Columnist

Movita Johnson-Harrell.

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