A Black former University of Pennsylvania classmate of Hannah Gann, dubbed the “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal,” said the activist appeared more focused on “personal gain” than advancing the cause after being identified as a white Jewish woman.
The former associate, who said she knew the 35-year-old before Gann allegedly began presenting a false identity, accused her of trying to “take advantage of vulnerable communities” in comments to The Post on Wednesday.
“The moment you start lying and perpetrating as if you’re somebody else is when your whole point, your whole message, starts to fall flat,” said the former student, who requested anonymity.
“If you truly care about the cause more so than about personal gain, then that’s just what it is,” she said of Gann, a high school teacher whose outspoken activism led Accuracy in Media to label her “Philadelphia’s Leading Antisemite.”
The former classmate said she knew Gann through their shared participation in urban studies and public-service programs at UPenn.
“She definitely wasn’t Black,” she said. “There were a lot of Jewish students at Penn during my time, including in my program, who looked like her — light skin and curly dark hair.”
The UPenn graduate also said she worked at the university’s Black Cultural Center, where she “built strong relationships” with other Black students.
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“And I don’t remember her being there or being a part of that at all,” she said.
Gann issued an apology on Instagram in recent days, acknowledging that she had lied to fellow activists about her identity for years after being confronted by members of the movement.
Former allies have cut ties with Gann following her admission that she has no Black or Palestinian ancestry and is a white Israeli with relatives living in the West Bank.
The revelations have cast fresh attention on her earlier statements, including her description of Hamas members as “martyrs” and calls for violence on American streets in support of the Palestinian cause.
“I can’t speak to her motivation. But it seems like she just tried to take advantage of vulnerable communities because she got involved and couldn’t fully engage in the ways that she wanted based on her identity,” Gann’s former classmate said.
“There’s this cultural blackwashing that happens when [people] encounter certain cultures and want to be involved, and they end up seeking the benefits of being another race without the drawbacks. That’s part of what makes it even more corrupt,” she added.
Gann, a 10th-grade history teacher at a West Philadelphia high school, has been called the “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal” on social media. The comparison refers to the former Idaho NAACP chapter leader who deceived fellow activists for years by claiming to be Black.
The school district has not said whether the revelations will lead to any consequences for Gann.