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Tariq Ali Today, I sent a bank payment to a French painter whose work I admire. It was for a stunning abstract. He got a call: ‘Just now I received a phone call from my bank saying that they can not accept your money transfer… I asked why ? And they say because of your « opinions »… So I asked them to write down this on an Email… And they accepted the transfer.’ My opinions can only mean those on one subject: Palestine. Why is Europe going down this road to such an extent? Perhaps the caller from the bank was acting individually and read a text of mine he/she hated. In that case why make the phone call? Another friend , but in London, hearing the story remarked: 'Lloyd Bank denied the mother of a Palestine Action prisoner a mortgage on account of her daughter's arrest' Is every bank behaving like this? Why no boycott of Lloyds. Bigotry before profits? Amazing.