Tons of photos of the Middle-Eastern Olive Oyl at link.
That reminds me of a good friend's description of Lebanese people watching Popeye back in the 80's in Lebanon.
They liked it, but saw an entirely different story. First, they thought that Olive Oyl actually represented an American ideal of women. Second, they liked Bluto because he looked Arabic. Third, they assumed that the fight was over the spinach, which they love. I'm enjoying the old B&W Fleischer ones with my son. One of them is the most violent cartoon I had ever seen ("Can You Take It"), and it was hilarious.