According to internal documents seen by the Philadelphia Inquirer, she claimed to have a Palestinian grandfather, and supporters had sent her money after she claimed to be struggling financially due to sending funds to support her family in Palestine.
“We asked her to publicly acknowledge that she is a white woman of Jewish heritage and an Israeli settler family.
“We will no longer work with Hannah, and she will no longer be welcome in any of our organising spaces.”
Gann confirmed the allegations in a statement posted to her own Instagram, writing: “I lied about my identity and have been lying for years.
“I have no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage. I am a white woman of significant privilege and wealth.
“Anyone who supported me was manipulated and should not be judged as a result of their support for me.”
In a subsequent video statement, she added: “There is so much I owe to many people and causes I love and so little I can do to make it right.
“As much as I feel shame and sorrow and regret to the depth of my core, I believe apologies are meaningless without action.”
Gann also addressed allegations that she raised funds for Palestine under false pretences, insisting that “every cent I ever raised for people on the ground in Palestine or anywhere else went where I said it was going” and saying she was “working to repay” anyone who gave her money “without full knowledge of who I was, and therefore without full consent”.
She did not, however, address the allegations that members of her family were Israeli settlers.
Saying that she “does not deserve” forgiveness, she urged her critics to avoid condemning the organisations with which she worked in her activism, adding: “I hid the truth or outright lied about my background to everyone in my life…
“No one else helped to protect my deceptions or perpetuate my dishonesty…the mistakes were mine alone, and the consequences should fall on me directly and solely as much as possible.”
Hannah Gann (Instagram/MsGannOnTheGram)[Missing Credit]