Nationwide — Hannah Gann, a white teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who became involved in pro-Palestinian activism, has admitted that she spent years falsely claiming Black and Palestinian identities. She now says she is a White Jewish woman from a family with ties to Israel and described herself as “a White woman of significant privilege and wealth.” Her admission has led activist groups to cut ties with her and raised questions about her role as an educator.
She teaches at the Workshop School, a project-based high school in West Philadelphia. After the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, she became active in local pro-Palestinian organizing. She participated in a 2024 Philadelphia teach-in about what organizers described as “scholasticide” in Gaza and supported fellow teacher Keziah Ridgeway after Ridgeway faced disciplinary action over pro-Palestinian posts on her private social media accounts. Gann also publicly presented herself as having Palestinian, Tunisian, and Black roots.
According to Fox News, her claims came under closer scrutiny when members of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine confronted her about her background. The groups said they spent more than an hour questioning her before she admitted that she had lied. They then asked her to publicly acknowledge that she was a White woman of Jewish heritage with an Israeli settler family background. Both organizations said they were “stunned, saddened and angered” and permanently ended their ties with her.
Gann later addressed the controversy herself in a roughly 10-minute Instagram video. She apologized and acknowledged that she had deliberately hidden her family’s background from people in Philadelphia, her relatives, and people in her professional life. “I hid the truth or outright lied about my background to everyone in my life,” she said. She also insisted that no friends, fellow organizers, relatives or other people knew about the deception. Her admission followed years of activism in which her claimed identity became part of how she presented herself in political and community spaces.
Questions about her background had also been raised through research compiled by the Philly Palestine Coalition. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the group’s documents challenged several statements Gann had made about her family. One example involved a grandfather she had described as Palestinian-born. Historical records reviewed by the coalition reportedly showed that he was born in Baltimore. The coalition also alleged that Gann told people she needed financial help because she was sending money to relatives in Palestine, leading some people to donate to her.
The situation has now extended into Gann’s work with students, particularly because she teaches at a school serving a predominantly Black student population. The coalition raised concerns about students who may have viewed her as someone who shared their experiences of discrimination and oppression. The School District of Philadelphia said it was aware of social media posts involving an employee and an outside advocacy group and was offering support to students and staff who may have been affected. The district has not said whether Gann will face disciplinary action.