The family foundation of a University Board of Trustees member donated $100,000 to the pro-Israeli “blacklist” group Canary Mission, tax documents show. 

According to a 2023 tax document — which was first reported on by The Intercept — Canary Mission received a $100,000 donation from the Natan and Lidia Peisach Family Foundation. The foundation’s treasurer, 1988 Wharton graduate Jaime Peisach, is the husband of 1987 Wharton graduate and Penn Trustee Cheryl Peisach. 

Since 2014, Canary Mission has identified and investigated “people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews,” according to its website. The organization’s “Ethics Policy” page says that the group obtains its information through “open sources on the internet” — including social media posts, articles, and other media. The site publishes such information of individuals and organizations it considers proponents of anti-Israeli activism — a practice critics have labeled as “doxxing.”

Canary Mission has numerous webpages dedicated to Penn, including a “campaign” page that describes the “rising tide of antisemitism” at the University. The site lists the contact information of senior University administrators and profiles numerous Penn students and faculty.

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“Shockingly, since the Oct. 7th attack, UPenn, along with a number of other prominent Ivy League schools, has been a bastion of SUPPORT for Hamas and their horrific attack,” the page reads. “Large numbers of students and faculty – in statements and rallies – have justified the attack, which they condoned as legitimate ‘resistance.’”

In addition to its 2023 donation to Canary Mission, the Natan and Lidia Peisach Family Foundation donated $200,000 to Penn and $180,000 to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces organization.

Requests for comment were left with Jaime and Cheryl Peisach. Both a University spokesperson and Board of Trustees Chair Ramanan Raghavendran declined a request for comment. 

In January, 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to identify and deport non-citizen participants of pro-Palestinian protests. Two months later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the State Department had revoked more than 300 student visas, including those of students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses.

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Since then, about a dozen students, faculty, and researchers from universities across the country have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. 

According to a recent analysis by The New York Times, immigration lawyers and experts have noted “coincidences that suggest to them that the information circulated by Canary Mission … may be providing road maps for ICE enforcement actions.”

In addition to her position on the Board of Trustees, Cheryl Peisach formerly served on the Wharton Undergraduate Executive Board and co-chairs the programming committee for the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women. Her husband, Jaime Peisach, formerly served on the Wharton School’s Executive Board for Latin America. 

1986 Engineering graduate Alberto Peisach serves as the president of the Natan and Lidia Peisach Family Foundation, and 1991 College graduate Monica Peisach Sasson serves as vice president. Sasson is also a current member of the Board of Advisors for Penn’s Center for High Impact Philanthropy. 

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Requests for comment were left with Sasson and Alberto Peisach.

Canary Mission currently features full-length descriptions of more than 15 members of Penn’s faculty and staff — each with links to further personal information. Additional profiles identify over two dozen Penn students, including signatories of a pro-Palestinian open letter circulated by student organizers. 

The site also criticized the aftermath of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, which was held on Penn’s campus in September 2023 to celebrate Palestinian writers and performers while discussing their right to national independence. Canary Mission describes the event as a showcase of “virulently antisemitic and anti-Israel speakers.”

Shortly before the festival, former Penn President Liz Magill sent an email to the University community expressing concern about antisemitic vandalism found at Penn Hillel and pledging support to Penn’s Jewish community. In her message — though not referring to the festival by name — Magill acknowledged that the antisemitic incidents coincided with upcoming visits to campus by “controversial speakers.”

The day before the festival, several members of the Peisach family, including Jaime Peisach, signed an open letter addressed to Magill criticizing the “platforming” of the festival, which the letter described as hosting “known antisemitic speakers.”