Tutu Holds Impromptu and Defiant Christmas Rally on the West Bank : Mideast: Service stands in sharp contrast to somber celebrations in Bethlehem and fatal shootings of five Palestinians by Israelis.

Normally, this kind of show of defiance would be dangerous: A child held aloft a poster bearing a pair of red, white, green and black pennants, the colors of the outlawed Palestinian flag. Ralliers danced around him singing nationalist songs.

Israeli soldiers armed with M-16 rifles stood only a few feet away. The stage seemed set for yet another clash of stones and bullets.

But a military commander approached, stared at the sign and the revelers, then silently walked back to a cordon of his troops. No tear gas, no arrests, no shooting, although security agents busily snapped photos of the revelers.

Such was Christmas Eve in Beit Sahur, a West Bank town known for angels, shepherds and peaceful resistance to Israeli rule. The impromptu rally was held as residents of Beit Sahur gathered to hear Bishop Desmond M. Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize winner from South Africa, speak during a sunset service near the fields where tradition holds that shepherds heard tidings of Jesus’ birth.

The event was billed as a traditional Christmas service, but the substance was notably political and the tone, defiant. And in its festive mood, the service stood in sharp contrast to somber celebrations next door in Bethlehem and to continuing violence, including the fatal shootings of five Palestinians by Israeli soldiers, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the weekend.

The visiting Anglican bishop spoke directly to the issue of the Palestinian conflict with Israel and his support for an independent Palestinian state.

“We support the struggle of the Palestinian people for nationhood,” he told a crowd of 3,000 that included mostly Christians, a smattering of Muslims and a handful of Jews from Israel. “Dear brothers, we also say that the Jews have a right to their independent state as well.”

Both comments drew applause. The “two-state solution” is now the Palestinians’ guide to resolving their conflict with Israel. Israel rejects Palestinian independence.

Tutu’s visit was filled with the kind of images perhaps only possible in the Holy Land in conflict. He was escorted into the grounds of the YMCA in Beit Sahur by both Israeli soldiers and young activists of the Arab uprising. Each group claimed to be protecting him.

Tutu and many of the worshipers approached the site waving an olive branch, a peace symbol born in this land. Beneath a canopy of pine and fig trees, Tutu listed harsh conditions that appeared to match Palestinian life under occupation. But at intervals, to the amusement of the crowd, he added the refrain, “Of course, I am talking about South Africa.

“The boycott of schools, the tear gas, being shot at, being jailed, leaving into exile,” he said at one point, pausing. “I am talking about South Africa.”

Israeli officials have bristled at suggestions that they treat the Palestinians the way the authorities in South Africa treat blacks under apartheid.

“There can be no peace anywhere in the world without justice,” Tutu added. “We pray that Arab and Jew will find each other.”

The service broke up peacefully. No one could remember when a political rally by Palestinians had not been broken up by force. Beit Sahur gained notoriety this fall by resisting Israeli efforts to collect taxes. Despite the confiscation of property from dozens of homes and workshops and the arrest of several householders, the 12,000 residents refused to voluntarily pay back taxes. It was the most significant effort at passive resistance during the 2-year-old intifada , or Arab uprising.

The gloomy mood in Bethlehem was deepened by a weekend of violence in the city and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. News of the death of a 15-year-old boy from Bethlehem set off a brief disturbance on Friday. The boy was shot last August by an Israeli settler, witnesses said, and had been kept on a respirator ever since.

After stones rained on soldiers patrolling Bethlehem, they retaliated by firing tear gas and closing shops.

“Unfortunately, there is no peace in Bethlehem,” said Elias Freij, the longtime mayor of the city. “This year, the situation is worse. We are suffering more casualties, the tax collection is difficult and arbitrary, the jails are full of innocent people.”

Five other Palestinians were shot to death by soldiers over the weekend. More than 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since the uprising began in 1987. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed by fellow Arabs on suspicion of collaborating with Israel or for alleged crimes of vice. About 40 Israelis have died at the hands of Palestinians.

The traditional procession by the Roman Catholic bishop of Jerusalem into Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity took place Sunday with muted pageantry. A file of Franciscan monks accompanied Msgr. Michel Sabah into the church, but the customary parade of Boy Scouts was absent, and there were no decorations in the square. All the shops of the city were closed in compliance with a strike call by the underground leadership of the uprising.