It is with great sadness that I report of the passing of our beloved secretary Sol (Shlomo) Etzioni.
Sol was born in Australia and spent his youth as a member of Labour-Zionist Youth Movement Habonim. It was here that he began his life as an educator, a guide, and an inspiration to Jewish youth.
Shlomo Shalmon, who was for years Secretary of the International Communes Desk and co-editor of CALL, passed away on the 24th of October, 1998, on his kibbutz, Gesher.
Shlomo was born in Vienna, Austria. As a member of a Zionist youth movement, it was only natural that he chose the path of a pioneering life, and in 1938 he came to Palestine. After a short preparation period at the largest kibbutz, Givat Brenner, Shlomo and his group founded Kibbutz Gesher (" Bridge") in the Jordan Valley. Landscape gardening was his first major occupation, together with battling the insect pests in the citrus groves and the cotton fields. Besides building up the kibbutz - together with his helpmate, Naomi - he took an active part in defending it during the War of Independence (1947-8).
One of the most central and active members of the Desk passed away suddenly on October 25th, 2001.
Three tributes from very different sources throw some light on his personality and the wide radius of his life.
