Bill Capowski, the Penn State student arrested by the Israeli army two weeks ago after being found in a closed military zone, avoided official deportation by striking a deal with the Israeli government. He is now back in State College.

Capowski said he was released from prison after he agreed to leave the country. Once he was on his flight home, the government dropped deportation proceedings.

He originally intended to come home Friday because he had to work today, he said.

The deal also meant he did not get a stamp on his passport stating he was officially deported. Such a stamp could keep him from re-entering Israel in the future, he said.

Capowski was arrested while volunteering for an organization called the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian group whose goal is to end the occupation in Palestine, according to their Web site.

He and three other volunteers from Canada, Denmark and Sweden were arrested on July 9 near the West Bank village of Arrabony for protesting the construction of a wall that goes through Palestinian property.

Capowski's brother, Robert Capowski, said his brother told him he was playing chess in a tent when he was "dragged off by the Israelis."

He added that his brother and the others were taken to a military base in territory occupied by Israel.

Of the two weeks he spent in the Middle East, Capowski spent nearly 10 days in jail, he said.

"I wanted to enjoy my experience in Palestine, do the tourist things, and I wanted to do peace work with the ISM. I wasn't able to do either," he said.

Robert Capowski said his brother and the other internationals were arrested during a peaceful, non-violent protest.

"Martin Luther King was not popular with the state when he was alive. He got in the way of an unjust system," Robert Capowski said.

The prisoners were all beaten up a little, Capowski said.

"We were all pushed and shoved. We were all injured to some degree in a car accident," he said.

The accident was not related to the group's arrest, and happened on the way back to the detention center, he said.

Robert Capowski said he believed the horrible treatment his brother told him about was for a reason.

"[The Israelis] want to make it so horrible that when the deportation order comes, [the prisoners] will just say 'yes, I'll go,' " he said.

The group members appeared at several court hearings and were refused bail. Ordered deported, they had to petition to resist deportation. Their petition was denied and their plea against deportation was overturned, Robert Capowski said.

Capowski said he was not sure if the case proceeded to the Israeli Supreme Court.

"They may have been deported before [the case] got there," he said.

Capowski, 37, a part-time Penn State student, plans to take another class in the fall, he said.

His brother Robert Capowski said Bill is a regular guy.

"He likes chess; he roots for the Mets. He likes Scrabble and plays basketball," he said.

Speaking for his family, Robert Capowski said they are very proud of Bill.

Oscar Fernandez, a former co-worker of Capowski, said he received an e-mail letting him know Capowski was back from the Middle East.

"I'm happy he made it back to the U.S. and to his family. They are lucky to have such a brave and peace-seeking activist at Penn State," he said.