Teacher known online as ‘Palestinian Rachel Dolezal’ admits lying

A Philadelphia teacher who spent years portraying herself as Palestinian and Black has admitted the claims were fabricated, telling followers in a video statement that she is instead “a White woman of significant privilege and wealth,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The comparison in the headline has circulated online and was noted by both the Inquirer and Fox News Digital, which reported that some social media users have taken to calling her the “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal” — a reference to the former NAACP chapter official revealed in 2015 to have misrepresented herself as Black despite having two White parents.

Hannah Gann, a longtime teacher at the Workshop School, a Philadelphia School District high school, built a public profile as an outspoken pro-Palestinian activist in the years following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. She was prominent enough in that role that a mobile billboard once parked outside her school branding her “Philadelphia’s Leading antisemite,” according to Fox News Digital.

The fabrication unraveled after members of two left-wing groups Ms. Gann had worked closely with — the Racial Justice Organizing Committee and Philly Educators for Palestine — confronted her about her background. In a joint statement, the groups said they pressed Ms. Gann to publicly acknowledge that she is “a White woman of Jewish heritage and an Israeli settler family.” Both organizations have since cut ties with her.

Ms. Gann was also a vocal defender of fellow teacher Keziah Ridgeway, who was removed from her classroom at Northeast High in 2024 after the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia filed a complaint accusing her of using her position to teach anti-Israel views and threatening Jewish parents through her personal social media accounts, including a post featuring a gun emoji. Ms. Ridgeway has denied any wrongdoing.

A research document compiled by the Philly Palestine Coalition and obtained by the Inquirer found further discrepancies in Ms. Gann’s story, including a grandfather she had described as Palestinian-born who was actually born in Baltimore. The document also reported that her family lives in Israel. Ms. Gann told people she was short on money because she was sending cash to relatives in Palestine, according to the document, and some people sent her money as a result. A University of Pennsylvania classmate told the Inquirer that Ms. Gann had been known in college as a self-described white Jewish woman with family in the West Bank before her public transformation.

A Philadelphia School District spokesperson, Monique Braxton, said officials are “aware of social media posts concerning a district employee” and that the district is offering support to affected students and staff. Ms. Braxton did not say whether Ms. Gann would face disciplinary action.

The revelation also drew a rebuke from the Lawfare Project, a legal organization focused on Jewish civil rights. Jayne Zirkle, the group’s director of communications, said the more troubling issue is “why she believed her real identity was a liability” while a fabricated one proved to be an asset.