‘Black’ teacher and activist outed as wealthy white Jewish woman: ‘PALESTINIAN RACHEL DOLEZAL’
· Toronto Sun
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A wealthy, privileged Jewish teacher and activist in Philadelphia was outed after posing as a Black and Palestinian woman for years.
Hannah Gann was forced to confess that she is a “white woman of significant privilege and wealth” after fellow activists confronted her last week with their suspicions about her background.
“I lied about my identity and have been lying for years. I have no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.
“I am a white woman of significant privilege and wealth,” she continued. “Anyone who supported me was manipulated and should not be judged as a result of their support for me.”
The left-wing activist claimed to be Black and Palestinian when she is, in fact, white and Israeli.
‘Half-truths and obfuscations’
Gann also shared a lengthy video on Instagram on Monday, noting the “shame and sorry and regret” she feels over her actions while reiterating that no one else was aware of her identity- and race-faking.
“I hid the truth or outright lied about my background to everyone in my life,” she said in the video.
“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 continued. “I hid my family’s background from everyone in Philly and also hid from the people in my own family what I was doing.”
Gann noted that she “allowed half-truths and obfuscations to grow into outright lies,” but that she “genuinely wanted to commit to the work I was doing in spite of those lies.”
When and how did the truth come out?
One of Gann’s former classmates at the University of Pennsylvania said she was known in college as “a self-proclaimed white Jewish woman with family in the occupied West Bank,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“I watched her sudden transformation after she returned to Philly from the Peace Corps [in Rwanda]. She was clearly making herself look darker using makeup and fake tan, and speaking using [African American Vernacular English],” the classmate said.
The activist frequently referenced her Palestinian family, including a Palestinian grandfather, who was revealed to have actually been born in Baltimore, the publication reported, citing a document compiled by the Philly Palestine Coalition (PPC).
The fraudster also told people she was broke because she was sending money to relatives in Palestine, according to the PPC, when, in reality, any family members abroad Gann has live in Israel.
She was eventually outed when members of two local activist groups — the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine — faced off over Gann.
“Members met with Hannah and questioned her about her background on Thursday and after an hour of discussion, Hannah finally admitted she lied,” the groups told the Inquirer .
“We asked her to publicly acknowledge that she is a white woman of Jewish heritage and an Israeli settler family,” the organizations said, adding that they were “stunned, saddened and angered by this betrayal.”
Since her story went viral, Gann has been dubbed on social media “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal” and “Izraeli Dolezal,” in reference to the White former NAACP president who posed as a Black woman.
‘Deeply concerning’
Gann, who is employed by the Workshop School, a project-based high school in the Philadelphia School District, is “a teacher of predominantly Black youth,” the PPC noted.
“She has gained the trust of young people on the basis of a sense of shared oppression. She has served as a mentor to at least one young white person who was manipulated by Hannah on the basis of a fake identity,” the group continued.
“Her access to vulnerable young people, especially Black youth, is deeply concerning, given her pattern of lying and manipulation.”
Gann often took to social media to share her activism through videos and posts.
In one Instagram video from December 2025 , she is seen wearing a keffiyeh while urging the Board of Education to protect its most vulnerable students.
Will she lose her job?
A spokesperson for the school district said it is “aware of social media posts concerning a district employee and her involvement with an outside advocacy organization. These posts reference the employee’s involvement in an external group.”
The spokesperson did not comment on any possible consequences or disciplinary action Gann could face, but did note that her “deception has compromised the safety and security of our movement, with disproportionate harm caused to Palestinians involved in this coalition.”
She added: “This pattern of deceit has rattled many organizers across PPC and allied groups, especially Palestinians, fellow teachers, and individuals who have been engaging with her closely under false pretenses.”