A Philadelphia teacher and activist who spent years presenting herself as black and Palestinian has now admitted that she is a white woman of Jewish heritage — and that she lied about her background to everyone in her life.
Hannah Gann, a teacher at Philadelphia’s Workshop School, publicly acknowledged the deception this week after members of two activist organizations confronted her about her identity.
“I hid the truth or outright lied about my background to everyone in my life,” Gann said in an Instagram video she posted.
Gann had been active in Racial Justice Philly and Philly Educators for Palestine and had presented herself as having Palestinian and Tunisian heritage. In 2024, her biography for a West Philadelphia teach-in on the destruction of educational infrastructure in Gaza identified her as Palestinian American.
Now she says her identity was fabricated. “I am a white woman of significant privilege and wealth,” Gann wrote in an earlier statement, before explaining in the video that she had hidden her family background from everyone in Philadelphia and what she was doing from members of her own family.
The revelation came after members of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine met with Gann and questioned her about her background for more than an hour. The groups said she eventually admitted that she had lied and asked her to publicly acknowledge that she was a white woman of Jewish heritage and from an “Israeli settler family.”
The organizations subsequently cut ties with her. “Black and Palestinian identities, grief, and genocide are not identities or experiences that anyone has the right to appropriate for credibility, access, or belonging,” Racial Justice Philly said in a statement to 6abc. “Hannah could’ve easily been an invaluable ally to these communities without lying about who she was.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Gann frequently referred to Palestinian relatives, including a purported Palestinian-born grandfather. A research document compiled by the Philly Palestine Coalition said records show her grandfather was actually born in Baltimore.
A former University of Pennsylvania classmate also told the Inquirer that Gann had been known in college as a white Jewish woman with family in the West Bank, before undergoing what the classmate described as a transformation after returning from the Peace Corps in Rwanda. The classmate alleged that Gann began using makeup and fake tan to appear darker and adopted African American Vernacular English. Gann has not commented publicly beyond her Instagram posts.
The unusual case has drawn comparisons to Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP chapter president who became nationally known after her parents publicly challenged her claim of being black in 2015. Dolezal, who was born to white parents, had presented herself as black and became a prominent figure in racial justice circles before the controversy forced her to acknowledge her biological ancestry.
Gann’s activism was not confined to social media. She was a prominent participant in Philadelphia’s pro-Palestinian organizing, including teach-ins and efforts to defend other activists and teachers facing disciplinary action.
Sharif El-Mekki, a Philadelphia educator and founder of the Center for Black Educator Development, argued that someone does not need to be black or Palestinian to support those communities. “But honesty is the price of entry,” he wrote in a social media post.
The Philadelphia School District said it is aware of the situation and is providing support to students and staff at the Workshop School. The district declined to comment on personnel matters. Local reporting indicates Gann is no longer working directly with students, though the district has not publicly announced disciplinary action.
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