I don't buy the argument about religious conflicts actually boiling down to sociopolitical (good word, Mark! 
) issues. That's all far too rational. Those issues may indeed underlie the conflicts, but the people involved believe they're about religion - therefore they are about religion. And there's nothing rational about religion.
people surely use to believe in the most improbable things, but i wouldn't say that if a bunch of hooligans beat themselves to death is about soccer. they would do it anyway, even if soccer didn't exist at all. they would surely fight for something else. gardening, for example...
seriously, it's surely easier to see someone as an enemy if he has got different religious beliefs (and a completely different way of life), but usually wars aren't waged by the mob, but by rational people for rational reasons. money, mostly...
nowadays the hate for muslims is very common and widespread in the western world... at least in italian news israeli are alway pictured as western looking guys with european traits, and palestinians like stereotypical "arabs"... talking about the iraqi journalist who trew his shoes to G.W.Bush, italian TV underlined the fact that many arabs around the world "offered him their daughters to celebrate his liberation", and showed totally off-topic footage of fat old women in burqas dancing in squalid and filthy houses. its much easier to feel sympathy for someone that looks and behaves like you, even if your religion taught you that his ancestors actually
killed your god!
THIS is the way propaganda works... "das sturmer", "la difesa della razza" and other racist publications in the 30s did exactly the same with jews.
and i see something very rational on the background.
