One source of this problem is that modern conceptions of citizenship, tied up with various forms of democratic universalism, tend to demand a homogenous people with standardized packages of rights. Yet the realities of ethnoterritorial thinking in the cultural ideologies of the nation-state demand discrimination among different categories of citizens even when they all occupy the same territory. The civil status (or nonstatus) of Palestinians in respect to the Israeli state is only the extreme example of this contradiction. Resolving these conflicting principles is increasingly a violent and uncivil process.