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If you look at how people react in the face of others' suffering, some are not able to see it and they want to run away, whereas others react in empathy and they reach out. The difference between the two is that in the case of the former, where the person reacts in a personally distressed manner, there is a confusion of one's own suffering with the other's. But in the second case, when a person is able to respond in an empathetic manner, although that person does experience some distress, the person is very clear that it is not actually his or hers; it is that other person who is suffering.

Is there a way that we can assess from the outside, or even from the inside, what genuine compassion is, as opposed to a near enemy of compassion or some artifice?

When someone is experiencing genuine compassion, in contrast, let's say, to its near enemy, grief, there is very little self-reference; this is one important distinction.