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Old Covenant-breakers, untaught by the lessons of the past sixty years, the reverses suffered in connection with the restitution of keys to the Shrine, the evacuation and restoration of the Mansion, the devastating loss in rapid succession of outstanding leaders and spokesmen, backed by the support of the perfidious Sohrab, engaging the services of a clever, hostile lawyer, unitedly challenged the authority conferred by `Abdu'l-Baha's Testament, and instituted legal proceedings against the Guardian of the Faith, questioned his right to demolish dilapidated house situated within the precincts and constituting an affront to the Most Holy Shrine of the Baha'i World, were rebuffed through the intervention of the Israel government denying the competence of the civil court to adjudicate the matter, subsequently threatened to appeal the government decision to the Supreme Court, provoked the authorities who, in consequence of my representations to both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued authorization to demolish the ruins. (29:2) Short-sighted action prompted by blind, uncontrollable animosity, resulted in the irretrievable curtailment of long-standing privileges extended to the Covenant-breakers during the course of six decades on the occasion of the celebration of the Baha'i Holy Days. (29:3) The signal success in the removal of the ruins was immediately followed by landscaping the approaches to the Shrine, the erection of a gate and the embellishment of the surroundings of the Tomb of Baha'u'llah, long denied a befitting entrance through the deliberate obstruction by the enemies of the Faith. Public access to the heart of the Qiblih of the Baha'i World is now made possible through traversing the sacred precincts leading successively to the Holy Court, the outer and inner sanctuaries, the Blessed Threshold and the Holy of Holies. Recent events prelude the acquisition and development of over thirty acres of property surrounding Baha'u'llah's resting place and are paving the way for the erection in the course of future decades of a befitting Mausoleum destined to enshrine the Dust of the Founder of God's Most Holy Faith.
(29:4)
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