USA · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Philadelphia Teacher Hannah Gann Apologizes After Admitting She Lied About Black Palestinian Identity
Hannah Gann confessed she lied for years about being Palestinian and Black. She is a white Jewish Philadelphia teacher with significant privilege and wealth.
How strongly to characterise the misconduct.
7 of 9 outlets skipped it: district said it is making support available to students and staff.
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New York Post
“A staunch figure in far-left activist circles in Philly, Gann portrayed herself as a mixed-race woman”Read the original ↗
NBC News
“Another Philadelphia teacher, Keziah Ridgeway, posted her own video Saturday saying Gann deceived her”Read the original ↗
The New York Post and Toronto Sun frame Gann as a fraudster and emphasise antisemitism; NBC and PhillyVoice keep closer to admissions and group findings.
Philadelphia activist apologizes
Hannah Gann, a 34-year-old Philadelphia teacher, apologized after admitting she had concealed her racial identity and background while presenting herself as a Black Palestinian crusader. Gann told the public, "I have hidden the truth or openly lied about my context to all the people in my life," and she said she kept her heritage a secret even from her closest friends.
The Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine said Gann admitted she is "a white woman of privilege and wealth" with family ties to the Gaza Strip. Gann’s apology came after colleagues described her as "a white Jewish woman with relatives in the occupied West Bank," and after the controversy was exposed by the two organizations that said they had severed ties with her.
Groups cut ties after
RJOC and Philly Educators for Palestine said members met with Hannah and questioned her about her background on Thursday, and they said that after an hour of discussion she "finally admitted she lied." The organizations said they asked Gann to publicly acknowledge that she is a white woman of Jewish descent from "a family of Israeli settlers," and they said they would no longer work with her.
Gann said in an Instagram post, "I lied about my identity and have been lying for years," and she added, "I have no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage." Keziah Ridgeway said she only learned of Gann’s actual background after 2023, and Ridgeway said Gann hung up on her father when Ridgeway tried to ask questions.
Safety, trust, and fallout
The School District of Philadelphia said it was aware of social media posts concerning a district employee and her involvement with an outside advocacy organization, and it said it was making support available to Workshop School students and staff. Monique Braxton said the district would not comment on whether Gann could face employment consequences, citing personnel matters, while she said the district was making support available to those affected.
Gann said she believed her stance in favor of Palestine remained valid, and she insisted that her deception did not diminish the real voices that fight for the Palestinian cause or other social injustices. The controversy also drew comparisons to Rachel Dolezal, and Gann said, "I still believe in every cause I ever supported," while she called her own story "a sick, deluded distraction."