I think it could be ambiguous in certain situations. Let's say I wanted to conditionally set a variable to one of two negative constants. In the current syntax, that would look like:
x = -1 if y else -2
However, with your syntax, it would look like:
x = if y -1 else -2
Which could be possibly confused with trying to subtract 1 from y.
It's been a while since I've read it, but I believe it's partially a reference to a lute song called "Flow my tears" [1], but it's also a reference to a moment near the end of the book when one of the policemen has an embrace with a man he just met at a gas station following the death of the policeman's sister.
Not everyone knows the difference between their timezone and UTC. I always end up looking up the difference, and it really doesn't matter to me what timezone people use, so long as they state it.
However, with your syntax, it would look like:
Which could be possibly confused with trying to subtract 1 from y.