Najib Tun Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, addressed the United Nations General Assembly yesterday about, among other things, growing Islamophobia and the Cordoba House controversy:

The real issue is not between Muslims and non-Muslims but between the moderates and extremists of all religions, be it Islam, Christianity or Judaism. Across all religions we have inadvertently allowed the ugly voices of the periphery to drown out the many voices of reason and common sense. I therefore urge us to embark on building a “Global Movement of the Moderates” from all faiths who are committed to work together to combat and marginalize extremists who have held the world hostage with their bigotry and bias. We must, and I repeat, we must urgently reclaim the centre and the moral high ground that has been usurped from us. We must choose moderation over extremism. We must choose negotiations over confrontation. We must choose to work together and not against each other. And we must give this effort utmost priority for time is not on our side.

As James Fallows points out, here is the Muslim voice of moderation (Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country) that critics often claim doesn’t exist. Jon Stewart isn’t the only person interested in the restoration of sanity in today’s polarized world.