DESPITE THE MEDIA SENSATIONALISM about riots and protesters clashing with police, this was far from being representative of the weekend. Yes, the Black Bloc anarchist movement was active, struggling against injustice by wearing black masks and confronting police - and sometimes throwing rocks as well. Their heroes are the Zapatista army fighting for indigenous rights in Chiapas, Mexico.

But the vast majority of us struggled against global injustice without physical confrontation, and without violence. Humour was a huge part of many actions. One group put out a call prior to the summit, to all model airplane enthusiasts - the plan was to breach the security perimeter with annoying model airplanes dragging slogans and banners, which would then do loops and tricks above the heads of the bewildered riot cops.

I spotted someone dressed as the Easter bunny carrying a hand-basket full of chocolate eggs, and handing out candy to demonstrators in Saturday's massive labour-led march. Later, at a spot where the perimeter fence had been ripped down and activists were preparing for a lengthy stand-off with police, I saw the morale-boosting bunny again. Between us and the line of police was a gap of about fifteen paces, which was slowly filling with acrid tear-gas fumes. The brave bunny was busily hopping along the remains of the security fence, right in front of the police line, hiding Easter eggs on the concrete blocks.

One of the organized anarchist groups (not to be confused with the Black Bloc anarchists) had built a large, wooden medieval catapult, and were launching cute stuffed toys over the perimeter fence at the overly-serious riot cops. It was a light-hearted attack on the fortress-mentality of the summit's security operations. We could not stop the trade meetings inside, but perhaps we could torment them by having more fun than they were having inside their cage.

I was inspired by a women's action, called Weaving Webs of Solidarity: women activists, who had received thread and strands of cloth from women around the world, carried these to the security fence, wove them together into an interconnected web, and then tied the web onto the cold metal wires of the fence. It was a symbol of solidarity and interconnectedness between women, and also of reclaiming the ugly barrier between us and democracy.

For a time I also followed some joyous Radical Cheerleaders through the demonstration. Dressed in the colours of resistance - red and black - and with ponytails, pompoms, and felt cutout hearts pinned to their shirts, they lightened the mood of the crowd and energized it at the same time:

R is for radical, and
A is for all right
D is for democracy, and
I is for in sight
C is for cheering, and
A for anarchy
L is for lovin', and that's just what you'll see.
Raaaa-dical - don't let the police know
Raaaa-dical - or they won't let you go!