A Philadelphia activist who claimed to be Black and Palestinian has admitted to fabricating those aspects of her identity after being exposed by those with whom she worked. While Hannah Gann has apologized for misleading the public and those around her, Gann’s former associates are distancing themselves from her, as is the woman whose infamous story is being compared to Gann’s.
Philadelphia activist ‘completely lied about her identity and background’
The Telegraph reported that Hannah Gann, a teacher and active pro-Palestinian advocate in Philadelphia, has apologized after it was revealed that she was misleading the public and fellow activists into believing that she was a Black Palestinian. Gann, who is white and Jewish, was confronted by two organizations with which she worked, according to a statement released by the groups. The Racial Justice Organizing Committee (RJOC) and Philly Educators for Palestine (PEFP) released a joint statement over the issue, claiming that Gann “completely lied about her identity and background, claiming at various times to be Palestinian, Tunisian and Black.”
The organizations claim to have confronted Gann, stating that after an hour she “finally admitted she lied.” The two activist organizations said in their statement that they “asked her to publicly acknowledge that she is a white woman of Jewish heritage and an Israeli settler family.” After the meeting, “We will no longer work with Hannah, and she will no longer be welcome in any of our organizing spaces,” RJOC and PEFP stated. “We recognize the profound harm this has caused; Palestinians whose identity and struggle were appropriated, the Black community, young people, organizers, and organizations whose trust and resources were exploited.” Since the accusation of Gann’s deception emerged, images have circulated online of her engaged in pro-Palestinian activism, including one clip in which she makes the plea to “treat Islamophobia, anti-Black and anti-Palestinian racism just as seriously as allegations of antisemitism.”
Gann, Rachel Dolezal address identity controversy
Gann responded to the controversy in a 10-minute video posted on social media. She was not speaking out as “an explanation or excuse, nor to seek forgiveness” for her actions, Gann said. In the video, Gann admitted, “I hid the truth or outright lied about my background to everyone in my life.” She clarified, “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.” She said that she “hid my family’s background from everyone in Philly and also hid from the people in my own family what I was doing,” clarifying that no one else was aware of her deception or helped her, and she urged anyone angry with her not to retaliate against or cast suspicions upon any of her former associates.
Many people have drawn obvious parallels between Gann’s story and that of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who was accused of portraying herself as Black and was heavily involved in pro-Black activism, including leading the Spokane branch of the NAACP, until her background was exposed online. Dolezal, who also goes by the name Nkechi Diallo, responded to Gann’s story on social media, drawing a distinction between herself and Gann. “About the #philly story with Hannah Gann today, I think there’s a difference between an identity you can apologize your way out of and a core self you literally don’t know how to stop being,” Dolezal said. “There are recently documented IDF operatives (Musta’ribeen) who dress as Palestinians to push protests toward violence and other disruption tactics, so this story sits inside a very different context — imo,” she continued.
With the fallout from Gann’s deception continuing, members of the activist communities with which she worked are distancing themselves from her. As members of the Philadelphia community deal with the immediate impact of Gann’s actions, even Rachel Dolezal, who endured her own scandal surrounding misleading claims of identity, is attempting to draw a distinction between her story and the one currently playing out in Philadelphia.