Today the Hamas majority in the Palestinian parliament voted to strip Abu Mazen of the powers his cronies granted him in the last session of the Fatah parliament.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas headed into a full-blown confrontation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, voting to strip him of powers he was hastily awarded by his Fatah Party in the last session of the outgoing parliament. …

Hamas has 74 seats in the new parliament and Fatah just 45, and the first order of business for Hamas was to cancel the powers the outgoing parliament gave to Abbas, the Fatah leader, authorizing him to cancel laws passed by the new parliament and appointing Fatah officials to key positions.

In the West Bank administrative capital of Ramallah, Fatah delegates walked out, accusing Hamas of twisting the rules to weaken Abbas’ authority.

About 15 Fatah gunmen marched on parliament in Gaza City, firing into the air. The gunmen eventually headed to a Fatah meeting, where they demanded their party stay out of the government Hamas is setting up and threatened to kill any Fatah official who joined. …

In a statement, Fatah complained the Hamas action “undermines the basis of dialogue and partnership in any institution with Hamas.” A Fatah legislator said Monday’s decisions would be appealed to the Palestinian Supreme Court.

Hamas lawmaker Mushir Masri ridiculed the Fatah reaction. “It is obvious that some people until now have not understood the rules of the democratic game,” he said.

Oh, and by the way… the new democratically elected terrorists are going to keep on killin’: Hamas leader vows armed struggle against Israel.

DUBAI (AFP) - The supremo of Palestinian radical group Hamas vowed to continue armed struggle against Israel and declared that the Palestinian Authority had accomplished nothing by recognising the Jewish state.

“The demand that Hamas and the resistance movements lay down their weapons and become political parties is unrealistic and has nothing to do with the Palestinian reality on the ground,” said Meshaal in an interview broadcast on Dubai-based Arab news channel Al-Arabiya after the end of his landmark visit to Moscow Sunday.

“This is why we are determined to hold on to our choices which are resisting and defending our people with the modest arms that we have while opting for peaceful politics to reorganise the internal Palestinian order.”

Meshaal made clear his group, which has carried out dozens of attacks against Israel, had no plans to compromise its militancy in the face of diplomatic pressure.

“We told Russian officials and we tell the whole world now, the solution is not in recognising Israel, it is in ending the occupation,” said the Damascus-based Meshaal.

Joshua Sharf at View From a Height notes:

Now, as I recall, ex-President Jimmah Carter, the Democrats’ shadow Secretary of State, was arguing that the EU and the US should keep right on funnelling money to the PA, in order not to radicalize the new government. The EU rushed to move money in under the deadline, and the US promised to find ways to help free up money for guns by funding essential services recruiting tools such as schools and hospitals.

Wow, I’m sure glad that worked out as planned.