Muslim youth are heavily targeted and impacted by CVE – both through programming targeted at young people (e.g. YPIP in Boston) as well as the recruitment of educators, guidance counselors, and schools.

This can often look like trainings that package CVE as a way to help youth off a path to radicalization or violent extremism – a path that does not exist, but this helps convince teachers that they are doing some good. The reality is, this is institutionalizing another arm of the school to prison pipeline by deputizing teachers and training them to further criminalize Muslim students. This already happens (e.g. a young boy named Ahmed builds clock and his teacher called the cops on him) – it will exponentially increase if CVE continues to expand through our schools. 

CVE in Massachusetts Schools – Operation250

The organization Operation250 was started by undergraduates students at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and has developed into a non-profit with the support of the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies funding from federal law enforcement – including a recent million dollar grant from the Department of Justice, on which they are partnering with researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Georgia State University.

Operation250 has already started trainings at schools in North Adams, Massachusetts. See below for a quick resource on fighting CVE for educators – and reach out to info@muslimjusticeleague.org if you are interested in getting more involved in this work in Massachusetts.