miltiades, there is no way that religious beliefs can be competely dispensed with and (in these troubled times), it would be cruel to do so since there are so many people who have little else to hold on to.
Ordinary people do not kill each other by nature, they are whipped into frenzy by those who manipulate them and fill their hearts with hatred to suit their own purposes.
Hamas is not obliged to declare an end to hostilities, it is the truly elected government of the region and such a declaration would be interpreted as capitulation to the Israelis, who are the interlopers there.
Politics is a filthy business, it would not surprise me one little bit if it transpired that the Jews were firing rockets on themselves in order to justify their recent actions.
Before you start snarling with indignation, please note that I state that "It would not surprise me".
Obviously the conflicts would mostly be started by the Arabs, the fact that the Jews are there would account for that fact.
Trustworthiness is something which unfortunately has become a rarity in most nations, perhaps it is the result of usually honest people emulating the words and actions of their political leaders, I came from a stock where a hand-shake was a bond, the Jews prefer everything in writing, I think it has rubbed off on us all.
Common sense stems from the ability to think for ourselves, if we rely on the information and lies fed to us from the lying tongues of politicians (known and proven to be liars), if we believe the distorted and misguided accounts of what the media is ALLOWED by those politicians to report, if we then base our opinions on those sources of information, WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE COMMON SENSE ?.
As to your closing comments, I agree that contraceptives should have certain classifications imposed on them when applied to the Jewish race, 'COMPULSORY' might be a small step towards peace on earth.
In my humble opinion.