According to some locals, the name Shabak is derived from Arabic shabaka (which means ‘inter-twining’) as an indication that the Shabak are composed of many different tribes. For political reasons, it has at times been tempting to overemphasize one of the component features of the Shabaks, and to claim that they are Arabs, Kurds or Turkmen. During the Hussein era, the government attempted to ‘Arabize’ the Shabak in an effort to consolidate control of the oil-rich north. Following the ouster of the Hussein regime, Shabak in the Ninewa plains faced harassment from some Kurdish activists. Kurds wishing to extend land claims into the Ninewa governorate claimed that Shabaks were really Kurds.
Additionally, the majority of Shabak who are Shi’a were targeted by Sunni militants. Shabak were victims to many incidents of large-scale violence after the American-led invasion and an estimated 1,300 were killed between 2003 and 2014. Those living in the disputed areas of Ninewa governorate, and especially Mosul, were targeted by militant groups attempting to provoke displacement of minorities from the area. Many Shabak who once lived in Mosul were forced to leave and seek refuge in surrounding villages due to harassment, killings and threats.
Shabak, like other minorities, suffered from the ISIS advance into Mosul and the Ninewa plains in 2014. ISIS militants kidnapped 21 Shabak from Gokjali, eastern Mosul in June 2014. Shabak properties in Mosul were marked with an ‘R’ (as opposed to an ‘N’ for ‘Nazerene’ or Christian) to signify ‘Rafida‘, a term ISIS militants use to designate Shi’a Muslims and others who have ‘rejected’ their interpretation of Islam. There were also reports that Shabak, as well as Yezidis, who refused to comply with ISIS orders were tried in newly-established shari’a courts and executed. By August, an estimated 60 Shabak villages had come under the control of ISIS. There were reports of massacres and kidnappings of Shabak civilians, with an estimated 117 families killed.
