Philadelphia teacher admits false claims of Palestinian and Black heritage

A Philadelphia teacher who worked with Palestinian and racial justice groups has admitted that she falsely claimed Palestinian, Tunisian and Black heritage for years, prompting two organizations to cut ties with her.

Hannah Gann described herself in an Instagram statement as a “white woman of significant privilege and wealth” with no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage. In a follow-up video, she said she had deceived “everyone” in her life and asked people not to judge the groups she worked with because of her actions.

“There is not a single person on this planet, no friend, no fellow organizer, no one in my family, no professional connection, no secret op or handler who knew what I was doing,” Gann said. “I hid my family’s background from everyone in Philly, and also hid from the people in my own family what I was doing.”

Philly Educators for Palestine and the Racial Justice Organizing Committee said in a joint statement that members questioned Gann about her background and that, after more than an hour, she admitted lying. The groups said they had asked her to publicly acknowledge that she is “a white woman of Jewish heritage and an Israeli settler family.” They said they would no longer work with her or welcome her in their organizing spaces.

The organizations said they were “stunned, saddened and angered by this betrayal,” citing harm to Palestinians, the Black community, young people and organizers whose trust they said had been exploited. “We will not allow her actions to distract us from our purpose or fracture the community we’ve worked hard to build,” they said.

Another Philadelphia teacher, Keziah Ridgeway, said in a video that Gann had deceived her during a friendship spanning nearly a decade. Ridgeway said Gann told her in 2023 that she had Palestinian Jewish ancestry and Muslim relatives. After hearing allegations that Gann had fabricated her identity, Ridgeway said she confronted Gann, who initially denied them. Ridgeway later asked Gann to call her father so she could question him directly.

“She hung up on her father and snapped at me when I tried to ask another question,” Ridgeway said. Gann responded in her own video: “Everything she said is true, and I fully corroborate.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a document compiled by the Philly Palestine Coalition found that a grandfather Gann had described as Palestinian-born was born in Baltimore. The document also said she had family living in Israel, according to NBC News.

Gann teaches at the Workshop School, a Philadelphia School District high school, the Inquirer reported. A district spokesperson told The Guardian that the district was aware of social media posts concerning an employee’s involvement with an outside advocacy group and was making support available to school staff and students as needed.

Gann declined further comment to NBC News, referring to her video. In it, she said she still believed in the causes she had supported, but called her own story “just a sick, deluded distraction.”