Philly teacher admits she faked being Black and Palestinian

BS BULLETIN:

Philadelphia teacher and activist Hannah Gann admitted she spent years falsely presenting herself as Black and Palestinian.
Gann says she is actually a white woman of Jewish heritage and described herself as coming from “significant privilege and wealth.”
The racial-justice and pro-Palestinian groups she worked with say they confronted her and have now permanently cut ties.

Philadelphia has its own Rachel Dolezal story — only this one comes with an additional geopolitical plot twist.

Hannah Gann, a veteran Philadelphia public-school teacher prominent in racial-justice and pro-Palestinian activism, has admitted that she spent years lying about being Black and Palestinian.

She is neither.

“I lied about my identity and have been lying for years,” Gann acknowledged in an Instagram video after other activists began questioning her background.

Gann said she has no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage and described herself instead as “a white woman of significant privilege and wealth.”

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gann is white and Jewish, with family in Israel.

This wasn’t merely a social-media persona.

Gann was a visible member of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine. Materials for a 2024 West Philadelphia event about Gaza identified her as Palestinian American.

The groups eventually became suspicious.

“Members met with Hannah and questioned her about her background on Thursday and after an hour of discussion, Hannah finally admitted she lied,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

They called the deception a “betrayal” and permanently severed ties with her.

The Inquirer reports that a Philly Palestine Coalition investigation also challenged stories Gann had told about her family. A grandfather she reportedly described as Palestinian-born was born in Baltimore, according to records reviewed by the group.

Gann had also told people she was sending money to relatives in Palestine, according to the coalition’s research, and some people consequently gave her money. The Inquirer reported those allegations but did not independently establish them.

Perhaps the most sensitive part of the story involves Gann’s job.

She teaches at the Workshop School, a Philadelphia public high school serving predominantly Black students. The Philly Palestine Coalition said her false identity helped her gain trust within communities where she worked and organized.

Philadelphia School District spokesperson Monique Braxton said the district is aware of social-media posts concerning an employee and an outside advocacy organization.

The district is making support available to affected students and staff but declined to discuss whether Gann faces disciplinary action, citing personnel matters.

Gann says nobody else was in on the deception.

“There is not a single person on this planet” who knew what she was doing, she said, adding that she concealed her real background from activists while simultaneously hiding her activism from members of her own family.

Her former allies aren’t laughing.

They say Gann’s deception has damaged trust and could make life harder for genuine Black and Palestinian activists who may now face additional skepticism.

The internet, meanwhile, has already supplied a nickname: The “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal.”

MY QUICK TAKE:

Remember when Rachel Dolezal seemed like one of those stories that could only happen once?

Apparently it was a proof of concept.

The strangest part here isn’t simply inventing an identity. It’s maintaining an entirely different family history, racial background and financial story while becoming a public activist — and apparently believing nobody would eventually start Googling the grandparents.