Shabak people are an ethnic and religious minority group living in northern Iraq, who live mainly in the villages of Ali Rash, Khazna, Yangidja, and Tallara in Sinjar district in the province of Ninawa in northern Iraq. Their language, Shabaki, is a Northwestern Iranian language very close to Gorani Kurdish. Their population was estimated at around 15,000 in the 1970s., However it is believed to be more like 60,000 today. Shabaks consist of three different ta'ifs or sects: the Bajalan, Dawoody and Zengana (two Kurdish tribal confederations that also encompass some Shabak communities) and the Shabak proper. Shabaks follow an independent religion, related to but distinct from orthodox Islam and Christianity. It is also claimed that they are descendants of Qizilbash from the army of Shah Ismail.

The origin of the word shabak is not clear. One view maintains that shabak is an Arabic word شبك meaning intertwine, reflecting their diverse society. The name of Shabekan is available among the Zaza tribes in Tunceli/ Dersim Turkey^{[citation needed]} and as Shabakanlu in Khorasan northern east of Iran.

Avi Dichter (Hebrew: אבי דיכטר‎, IPA: [ˈävi ˈdiχte̞ʁ] ; born December 4, 1952) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Kadima. He is a former Minister of Internal Security and Shin Bet director.

Born in Ashkelon, Dichter's parents were Holocaust survivors. As an adolescent, he joined Hashomer Hatzair, the oldest Zionist youth movement still functioning. After graduating high school (where he met his wife Ilana, with whom he has three children), Dichter was selected to serve in the elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces, Sayeret Matkal, under then Commander Ehud Barak. Upon completing his military service, Dichter joined Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, in 1974 where he advanced to eventually become its Director in 2000.

He began his career in Shin Bet as a sky marshal for El Al. After becoming proficient in Arabic and completing field intelligence courses, he began working in the Shin Bet's Southern District—specifically in the Gaza Strip. In 1986 he gained a BA in Social Science from Bar-Ilan University. In 1992, he was appointed as Director for the region. The targeted killing of Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash—known as "The Engineer"—took place under Dichter's leadership. The assassination of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 shed light on Shin Bet's shortcomings. Aiming to improve the Shin Bet's protection capabilities, Dichter was appointed Director of the Security and Protection Division. In 1999, he became Deputy Director of Shin Bet, and gained an Executive MBA from Tel Aviv University. One year later, Prime Minister Ehud Barak promoted Dichter to Director.

George Wassouf (Arabic: جورج وسوف‎) (born December 23, 1961) is a Syrian singer with over 30 albums released. Wassouf's vocal style has been emulated by younger singers such as George El Rassi.

Born in Kafroun, tartous, Syria into a Christian household, he was called "the miraculous of his time" for his artistic talent in singing.^{[citation needed]} Wassouf started singing at the age of 10 in his hometown Kafroun. He was discovered by his first manager and producer George Yazbeck at a wedding party that Wassouf was performing at, aged 12 years old. At the age of 16 he was called Sultan El-Tarab by George Ibrahim El Khoury a magazine director, Arabic for The Sultan of Music, with his classic song "el-Hawa Sultan".^{[citation needed]} He became famous after appearing on the Lebanese show Studio El Fan 1980 when he was 16 years old when he was known as Sultan of Tarab.^{[citation needed]}

Wassouf preferred not to shoot videos for his songs saying "I don't feel I can act ... I really can't... I only find myself when I'm on the stage ... singing, but the video clip forces me to act".^{[citation needed]}