The Syrian revolution separates fact from fiction

How can we best explain Arab solidarity with the Syrian revolution, the Free Syrian Army and Syrian refugees?

How can we explain Arab anger towards the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its allies?

Is it just a case of the disillusioned seeking an outlet for their anger and frustration?

The supporters of the Assad regime have a penchant for coming up with various justifications to hate the revolution and decry its supporters.

The great thing about the Syrian revolution is that it proves itself and its legitimate purpose the more time passes by

They started their hatred of the revolutionaries with the excuse that they aimed to topple a "resistance" regime, and then labelled their uprising as a "religious" or "sectarian" or "Brotherhood" or "peasant" revolution.

The detractors went on to reject the uprising because it had turned into a "civil war", and revolutionaries were accused of being US and Israeli agents.

More recently, the opponents of the revolution have provided us with a psychosocial analysis - as being the refuge of people disillusioned by the outcomes of the Arab Spring.

While all the other accusations and labels might be debatable, this last one certainly reflects a very high degree of contempt towards the revolution, as it reduces the sacrifices and suffering of Syrian people to a collection of misplaced frustrations, delusions and sectarian outbursts.

However, the great thing about the Syrian revolution is that it proves itself and its legitimate purpose the more time passes by and the stronger its enemies become.

The revolution that started against a family-run police state has forced that state to expose its own lies and propaganda by abandoning the false ideals and slogans it used to hide behind.

The Assad regime's ideological smokescreen used to be the Baathist slogan "one Arab nation with an eternal message" - but the regime soon resorted to importing Iranians, Afghans and Russians to kill Syrians and forcibly keep the Assads in power.

The regime also claimed to be the protector and champion of the Palestinian cause, but then went on to starve Palestinians to death in their besieged refugee camps.

The regime used to claim the moral high ground based on its "resistance and opposition" to imperialism and Zionism, but it does not mind that Iranians, Russians, Americans and Israelis are now coordinating action to protect the Assad dynasty from collapse.

Prior to the Syrian revolution, the "resistance axis" had used the excuse of resisting Israel to extort their people

Prior to the Syrian revolution, the "resistance axis" had used the excuse of resisting Israel to extort their people's social movements, dishing out baseless accusations against their opponents.

Since the start of the Syrian uprising, the Iranian regime became unashamedly open about its expansionist interests and publically reconciled the existence of both US and Israel in the region.

Furthermore, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah has come to believe that the greatest threat to the region is "Takfiri-Wahhabism" and that Israel is but a secondary threat to be dealt with after completing the holy war against the extremists.

The reality is that the Arab Spring was not only at odds with the "moderate axis" that included regimes such as those of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen, - but it was also at odds with the resistance axis that used lofty slogans to practice political exploitation.

As such, the Syrian revolution continues to expose the lies and contradictions of the "resistance axis" in keeping with the original spirit of the Arab Spring.

Eman al-Guwaifli is a Saudi columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @emanmag

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of al-Araby al-Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.