Thursday, April 30, 2009

Zionist Land Rover

This is a photo of a British Army Snatch Land Rover. There's been a lot written about these vehicles resently in British blogs about the fact that there have been too many deaths of British soldiers traveling in these vehicles. Even though they are the standard jeep used in Iraq and Afganistan, they offer very little protection. On Yom Ha'atzmaut I took my family to the IDF exhibition outside the town. One of the vehicles there was a "David" jeep, used in the shtachim to protect soldiers against anything from rocks to hand-held missiles. This jeep is seriously heavily armoured. I mentioned to the soldier there who was manning this exhibit that the British Army were complaining that their main jeep, the Snatch Land Rover gave them little protection. He laughed and told me to look carefully at the front of the "David" jeep. Did it remind me of anything? Well yes, the light array was identical to the Land Rover! I looked at the tyres.... And if any doubt was left, the steering wheel... The IDF take a standard Land Rover engine and chassis and build on an Israeli designed interior and exterior. Very impressive. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Same story here. This is a standard Ford F550 mini-bus. And this is the IDF's "Zeev" Armoured Personel Carrier. The sign says that the "Zeev" uses the engine and chassis of a Ford F550. (Click on the photo to get a full image). Click on the photo of the tyre to see a close up. The word "Ford" is clearly seen in the middle. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some more photos. (You would never believe that this started life as a 1960s "made on the Tyne" Mini Couper would you? LOL!!!) My favourite photo of the batch. "Brothers in Arms". The soldiers were very patient and friendly, more than willing to answer all kinds of questions from kids and adults alike. My kids had a great time. My little one (7 year old) decided that he was going to bring with a few of his plastic soldiers. I told him not to bring them as (1) he'd loose them and (2) he can play with real soldiers when he gets there. He insisted and my wife told me that I was making too much of a fuss about it so I shut up. When we got to the "Zeev" APC my son climbed inside and took out his soldiers. He arranged them on the seats and started playing shooting games. Three soldiers outside saw what was going on and to the delight of my son, rushed inside to play soldiers with him. I don't think he'll forget that in a hurry. Click on any of the above photos for a full view.