The Case of Rashid Khaddege/Daniel Jurdi
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Rashid Khaddege was an auto mechanic who lived in a town named Kfarmatta (pronounced "fur mat ta"), in Lebanon. Rashid was born in 1943. When he was 25, a friend named Ibrahim picked him up to go on a car ride. Ibrahim sped towards the Mediterranean Sea and at a place called Military Beach, lost control of the car. Rashid was thrown from the car, incurred head trauma and was instantly killed.
A little over a year later, Daniel Jurdi was born. Daniel's earliest word was "Ibrahim." At the age of two, he told his mother Latifeh, “I want to go home.” At two and one half, Daniel made the statements, “This is not my house. You are not my mother. I don’t have a father. My father died.” Daniel’s mother recalled, “He would not call Yusuf daddy.” “He called him by name.” Further, Daniel said, “My father was Naim.” Naim was Rashid Khaddege's father.
At two and a half years of age, at a family picnic, a relative tried to pronounce the name of the town Kfarmatta. Daniel intervened and correctly pronounced the name of the town. When his father asked how he knew the name of the town, Daniel replied, “I am from Kfarmatta.”
When Daniel and his mother were driving in Beirut, they passed a place on the sea called Military Beach. Daniel shut his eyes, hiding them with his hands, and started crying. He then screamed, “This is where I died.” Daniel also related that in his prior lifetime, he was a mechanic. Regarding the accident, Daniel said that Ibrahim was speeding and lost control of the car. Daniel said "I flew out of the car and landed on my head." When help came to assist the injured, Daniel said that he heard someone say, "Leave this one, he's dead."
In nursery school, Daniel told teachers his name was Rashid Khaddege. In another incident at the nursery school, little Daniel pinched an attractive young teacher and made a suggestive remark. Eventually, Daniel’s father sent an acquaintance to Kfarmatta, to inquire about someone fitting Daniel’s description of a mechanic who died in an auto accident at Military Beach. The Khaddege’s heard about the story and visited Daniel.
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When Ian Stevenson interviewed the two families in 1979, both said that upon their initial meeting, Daniel instantly recognized Rashid’s sister, Najla, and called her by name. Daniel said to his mother, bring bananas for the guests. Rashid loved bananas and his mother and sister stopped eating bananas after his death, because bananas reminded them of their loss of Rashid. Later on, during a visit to Kfarmatta, Daniel also spontaneously recognized Ibrahim, as well as Jijad, Rashid's hunting buddy.
Rashid's family has accepted Daniel as their son from a previous lifetime. They have a picture of him at their home and keep a bed for Daniel, who visits one to two times a month. Daniel has married and works as an accountant. Daniel has a phobia of racing cars, which apparently reflects the psychological trauma incurred by Rashid in the crash at Military Beach.
